DRC strikes risky mineral pact in US-China standoff

By Simon Mulongo 

In the mineral-laden provinces of the DR Congo, history is beginning to rhyme once more. 

As Kinshasa intensifies negotiations with the Trump 2.0 administration over a minerals-for-security pact, the country finds itself at the epicentre of a global storm — caught between superpower rivalry, collapsing liberal trade ideals and the creeping return of a neo-colonial order. 

The agreement promises US counterinsurgency support — drones, surveillance intelligence, and logistical military aid — in exchange for access to Congo’s vast cobalt, lithium, and rare earth deposits. 

But behind the diplomatic gloss lies a deeper and far more consequential reality. The deal is not just about security. 

It is a strategic recalibration — an attempt by Washington to claw back dominance in a world where trade has become a weapon and minerals are the currency of global power. 

Since January 2025, Trump’s administration has accelerated efforts to cut Chinese control over critical supply chains.

And nowhere is the contest sharper than in the DR Congo, home to over 70% of the world’s cobalt reserves, vast lithium fields in Manono, and key rare earth elements needed for military hardware and green technologies. 

China, through state-backed firms like China Molybdenum and Zijin Mining, already controls much of the Congolese extraction landscape. 

Long-term agreements, sealed during the Kabila era, exchanged infrastructure for mineral access — binding the DR Congo into Beijing’s industrial orbit. 

The US now aims to displace that influence, not through global trade platforms or multilateral consensus, but through blunt bilateralism anchored in hard security offerings. 

This pivot reflects a broader trend: the erosion of the post-war liberal trade system and the rise of classical realism, where national interest eclipses normative frameworks. 

The World Trade Organization is sidelined, and the African Continental Free Trade Area — meant to strengthen intra-African value chains — is being bypassed by direct state-to-state mineral diplomacy. 

Congo is no longer a participant in multilateral dialogue but a battlefield in a high-stakes resource realignment.

Simon Mulongo

The implications for sovereignty are profound. Reports suggest that parts of the proposed deal include semi-exclusive mineral corridors in Lualaba and Manono, possibly protected by private military contractors with links to Erik Prince, founder of Black Water. 

If these arrangements go forward, Congo may see the re-emergence of militarised extraction zones — corporate-run enclaves where the state has limited jurisdiction and national sovereignty is quietly outsourced. 

What makes this more alarming is the recurring paradox of resource wealth without development. 

In 2023, the DR Congo produced over 130,000 metric tonnes of cobalt and nearly 2 million tonnes of copper, yet remains one of the poorest countries on Earth. 

The GDP per capita is below $600, and over 63% of the population lives in multidimensional poverty. 

Mining towns such as Kolwezi and Fungurume remain encircled by wealth yet mired in deprivation — without basic healthcare, safe water, or functioning infrastructure. 

Despite billions flowing through the mining sector, a 2024 IMF-backed review found that only 17% of extractive revenue reached the national treasury. 

The rest vanishes into elite patronage networks, foreign-controlled joint ventures, and untraceable offshore flows. 

In this context, the Trump pact risks reinforcing a model where the benefits of mineral wealth accrue to the few, while the burdens — displacement, toxic exposure, and insecurity — fall upon the many. 

Regionally, the deal could destabilise fragile balances. Uganda and Rwanda — long involved in cross-border mineral networks — may perceive it as a strategic threat to their economic interests. 

The East African Community, already weakened by uneven military coordination, may see further fragmentation. And the African Union’s silence underscores a worrying erosion of continental leadership at a time of existential importance. 

Globally, the DR Congo’s tilt toward the US signals a retreat from even the pretence of neutrality. As great power rivalry intensifies, Africa risks being pulled into economic camps not of its choosing. 

The return of exclusive concessions, militarised zones, and transactional security cooperation marks a reversal of decades of progress toward transparent, value-driven development partnerships. 

Congo must approach this deal not as a beggar with leverage, but as a nation with options. 

It must demand public accountability, parliamentary scrutiny, and strong local content obligations. It must negotiate from a position of strategic clarity, not desperation. 

For the minerals beneath Congo’s soil may power the future — but unless governed wisely, they may once again bury the hopes of its people.