Economics, Business and Management: Recent Advances Vol. 2

Despite the strategic importance of mining, project failure rates remain high, with over 30% of licensed initiatives in Rwanda experiencing delays often attributed to insufficient team capacity. Grounded in Team Theory and the Resource-Based View, this study investigates the effect of project team competency on the success of mining projects in Rwanda, with a specific focus on the Trinity Nyakabingo Mining Project. Using a quantitative cross-sectional design, data were collected from 91 respondents through structured questionnaires and analysed using regression analysis to examine the relationship between project team competency encompassing skill proficiency, collaboration, and problem-solving ability and project success, measured by on-time completion, budget adherence, and quality deliverables. The findings reveal a strong positive and statistically significant relationship, with project team competency explaining 77.3% of the variance in project success (R² = .773, p < .001). While limited by its single-site case study design, the study concludes that competent project teams are pivotal to achieving successful mining outcomes in Rwanda's evolving extractive sector. Consequently, it recommends that mining companies institutionalise competency-based hiring, regulatory bodies enforce minimum competency standards, and project managers prioritise continuous training. These insights contribute to both academic literature and practical strategies for enhancing project delivery in resource-constrained mining environments.