Kabigumila wins the Women Entrepreneur in Mining Award

A Tanzanian woman walked into her first Mining Indaba and walked out with a continental award nobody saw coming.

Leminatha's big win in South Africa

• Leminatha Kabigumila snagged the Women Entrepreneur in Mining Award from AWIMA.
• The 2nd International Mining Indaba ran from February 8 to 12, 2026, in South Africa.
• She founded RARE Mining East Africa Limited and is its CEO.
• Kabigumila showed up expecting to learn and network, not collect hardware.

Her mining portfolio is stacked

• RARE Mining holds 21 licenses covering gypsum and gold operations.
• Gypsum gets mined in Kyerwa, Kagera, while gold comes from Kahama, Shinyanga, and Manyara.
• All her gold goes straight to the Bank of Tanzania in Dodoma.
• Three prior awards for best miner, top taxpayer, and outstanding female miner already sat on her shelf.

What she had to say

• Kabigumila credited Officer Samweli Shoo in Geita for helping her land that first license.
• Innovation in mineral value addition and community accountability are her guiding principles.
• Her message to women is simple: start small and refuse to take no for an answer.
• Seeing women on global platforms fuels her drive to keep pushing.

Tanzania's delegation at Indaba

• Minister Anthony Mavunde led the national contingent to the event.
• Mining associations, financial institutions, and legal firms all tagged along.
• Women passionate about reshaping the sector were part of the crew.