Opposition to a deal that would allow U.S. companies access to critical minerals in Congo is growing after Congo's President Felix Tshisekedi returned from the U.S. minerals summit last week — with praises from U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. lawmakers.
Tshisekedi has offered U.S. companies access to eastern Congo's rich minerals — mostly untapped and estimated to be worth $24 trillion – as a bargaining chip for U.S. support to help fight off rebels and build critical infrastructure in the region where Rwanda-backed rebels seized major cities last year.
It comes as the Trump administration seeks to create a minerals trading bloc with its allies, in part to defend against China's stranglehold on critical elements needed for everything from fighter jets to smartphones. China accounts for nearly 70% of the world's rare earth mining and controls roughly 90% of global rare earths processing. It is also the most active player in Congo's minerals sector.
Congo went seeking support and investment
On the sidelines of the Feb. 4 Critical Minerals Ministerial in Washington D.C., Tshisekedi led a Congolese delegation on strategic meetings with senior Trump administration officials and members of the Congress, mostly building on the strategic partnership agreement that both countries signed in December.
"We are open for business and we are serious about doing business the right way," Tshisekedi told members of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce during a meeting last week.
Discussions with Congolese officials focused on reviewing a list of strategic assets submitted by Congo which will help determine investment opportunities for American companies, the U.S. State Department said last week.
US, Chinese competition 'will intensify' on Congolese soil
The strategic partnership has been framed as securing supply chains for strategic minerals like cobalt, copper, lithium and coltan for the U.S. while Congo in return receives U.S. support for development of key infrastructure.
In Congo, however, analysts and residents say there are still no signs that U.S. involvement in the country's minerals sector will help meet its most crucial need: permanent peace and stability particularly in the east where Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have seized territories a year ago.
The rebels also control vast territories rich in minerals, including the Rubaya coltan mine which produces around 15% of the world's coltan and where at least 200 miners died recently after a part of it collapsed.
American companies, meanwhile, have long avoided Congo due in part to high levels of insecurity and corruption, a void long filled by Chinese companies.
"The battle between China and the United States for access to and control of strategic minerals will intensify concretely on Congolese soil," said Josaphat Musamba, doctoral researcher studying conflict and development at Belgium's Ghent University.
Opposition could hamper the implementation
In the capital of Kinshasa, opposition is growing against the mineral partnerships both from public figures and the civil society leaders, some of whom have accused the Congolese government of underselling the country's vast mineral wealth.
A group of lawyers and human rights activists in Congo has filed a lawsuit arguing that the mineral partnership threatens Congo's sovereignty.
"We are assuming our responsibility as Congolese citizens to protect the sovereignty of our country and preserve our heritage for future generations," said Jean-Marie Kalonji, one of the lawyers.
Within the opposition, there is also the fear that the deal will mainly benefit Tshisekedi. Moïse Katumbi, the main opposition leader, has raised concerns about how it could be implemented given the security situation in the mineral-rich east, and has called for a national dialogue as a better approach to investors.
Archbishop Fulgence Muteba, who is president of the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO), likened the strategic partnership to "selling off the minerals of an entire nation to save a regime or a political system."
"This clearly amounts to sacrificing the development of the population and confiscating the happiness of future generations," the Catholic bishop said in December.
In the rebel-controlled territories, residents say they don't see any major commitment by the U.S. to restoring peace and stability.
"We think this agreement will generate more conflict instead of actually providing solutions because the actors are not sincere," said Christopher Muyisa, a youth activist.
For Tshisekedi and his government, "the immediate gain is primarily political: strategic recognition from Washington," said Yvon Muya, a research associate at Canada's University of Ottawa.
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