The Democratic Republic of the Congo has offered the US exclusive access its critical minerals and infrastructure projects as tensions with neighbouring Rwanda escalate.
Bloomberg quotes a letter to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio where Congolese authorities ask for an urgent meeting between Presidents Felix Tshisekedi and Donald Trump to discuss a pact that would give American companies access to some of the most coveted minerals for the energy transition in exchange for security assistance.
“As the world’s largest supplier of cobalt and a major producer of lithium, tantalum and uranium, the DRC’s resources are integral to US industrial competitiveness and national security,” an Africa-US business group lobbying on Congo’s behalf said in the letter.
The Trump administration is “open to discussing partnerships in this sector,” the US State Department said in an email. “Partnerships with US companies will strengthen both US and DRC economies.”
The letter offers US companies operational control and “exclusive extraction and export rights.” It also proposes involvement in a planned deep-water port on Congo’s Atlantic coast and the establishment of a joint strategic mineral stockpile.
In exchange, the US would provide training and equipment for Congo’s armed forces as well as direct security assistance. It would have access to military bases “to protect strategic resources.”
A rebel group M23 backed by Rwanda has been advancing through eastern DRC since January, seizing Bukavu and Goma, the biggest city in the mineral-rich region.
Theodor Lisovoy, Managing Editor, Rough&Polished
