The peace accord signed in Washington on 27 June between Rwanda and the DRC was lauded by the US as a landmark diplomatic achievement. While headlines have focused on the de-escalation of violence in eastern DRC, sources say the Trump administration is using the cover of diplomacy to orchestrate long-term American access to lucrative mineral concessions.
“Let’s be clear, the US are a predator” a former member of the Congolese parliament told Field. “They saw peace as an opportunity, and they pounced. It’s like a lion eating an injured animal.”
Despite US Secretary of State Marco Rubio publicly parading new access to the DRC’s vast cobalt, copper, lithium and coltan resources, the terms of the deal remain a closely guarded secret. A Kinshasa-based mining consultant close to these negotiations confirmed “it’s a Trump-related company that is going to start benefitting from the assets and investments. They’ve been on the ground from the beginning. They’ll probably sell the assets on and make a quick buck.”
The deal reflects a few short months of closed-door manoeuvres by the Trump administration, who are scrambling to decouple US battery and electric vehicle supply chains from China. According to the former US ambassador in Africa, who was close to ongoing US-DRC negotiations, “this is really just opportunism with a good PR team. We’re used to sitting fiddling our thumbs in Congo, but this was a smart play.”
A veteran DRC watcher confirmed that Congolese negotiators have been in quiet discussions with the US State Department for months. They told Field that: “The presidency needs cash. The treasury’s dry. So, they’re cutting deals with the US rather than China.”
The Congolese former MP suggested Patrick Luabeya was DRC President Tshisekedi’s mouthpiece in these negotiations. A little-known technocrat, Luabeya is the chairman for the Congolese government body responsible for critical mineral strategy (ARECOMS). However, he is also Tshisekedi’s Special Envoy to the US and was sat alongside US officials in DRC-Rwanda peace talks.
As one Kinshasa-based journalist put it, “Patrick’s the only guy allowed to speak on cobalt, and somehow he’s also coordinating peace talks. He must be drafting a phase of cooperation with Washington’s minerals deal team. I mean everything runs through him, so he must be.”
In February, ARECOMS stunned global markets by implementing a cobalt export ban, despite strong objection from Chinese mining operators. Sources suggest Luabeya’s extension of the ban in May was likely to the benefit of new US partners. “They’ll lift the ban, but only once there’s a quota agreement… and a US-financed processing facility ready to go,” said one source close to the talks. “That’s the model. Build it in Katanga, tie it to a bilateral deal, and guarantee offtake to the US”
“Trump’s people are pragmatic,” said the DRC watcher. “They’ll do local processing if it gets the minerals home.” Trump-aligned officials appear to be building on a late-stage policy shift by the Biden administration, which enabled the US Export-Import Bank to fund non-American projects if their output served US interests.
The DRC watcher warned against assuming that the deal reflected a unified Congolese strategy. “Some opposition figures are calling this economic suicide,” he said. “It’s not about being pro-China or anti- America. It’s about cobalt. And the way this is going, the Congolese might end up with the deal but not the value.”
Neither ARECOMS nor the US has confirmed any mineral quota agreement, but insiders say the announcement could coincide with Presidents Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame meeting at the White House later in July. “Nobody knows exactly what Congo will do next,” said the journalist. “But there’s one thing we’re all sure of, this isn’t just about peace, it’s about power.”