Kinshasa and Washington are finalizing discussions around a strategic mining agreement aimed at attracting American investments in the critical minerals of the DRC, notably cobalt, lithium, and tantalum. The goal is to establish a regional value chain with extraction in the DRC, processing in Rwanda, and a transparent governance system to reduce dependency on China-dominated circuits. The signing of this agreement will also be conditioned on the full withdrawal of Rwandan forces and M23 rebels from sensitive areas in eastern Congo, particularly around Goma and Bukavu.
But behind the rhetoric of cooperation and security lies a new form of imperialist domination. It is, plain and simple, a disguised return to the old colonial protectorate system which, then as now, aimed at nothing but the submission and exploitation of the Congolese people.
The DRC since its formal independence in 1960 has known only wars, foreign interventions, and chronic instability. This chaos is not accidental: it is cleverly maintained by imperialist powers to keep a grip on the immense riches of the Congolese subsoil. Cobalt, coltan, copper, iron, manganese, diamond, gold, uranium, lithium, rare earths… are strategic resources coveted by capitalist monopolies to run their industries and fuel their technological transition. But these riches do not benefit the Congolese people at all. On the contrary, they are sources of war, misery, and desolation, with over 6 to 8 million deaths in thirty years in the east of the country.
In this predatory setup, Paul Kagame’s Rwanda plays the role of a subcontractor. For decades, this country, supported, funded, and protected by Western powers including the United States, France, and Belgium, has served as a military and logistical base for the occupation and plundering of the eastern provinces of the DRC. The crimes committed by armed groups like M23, backed by Kigali, are well documented. Yet, major powers turn a blind eye, because these crimes ensure them an indirect but secure access to Congolese minerals, under the guise of “official” supply chains.
It is in this context that the regime in place in Kinshasa, weakened, corrupt, and completely dependent, chooses to reach out to its executioner to sign a mining agreement with the United States, the main protector of Rwanda, and also with Rwanda. In doing so, the DRC will institutionalize its own domination.
This imminent agreement, presented as a security partnership, is nothing more than a protectorate treaty, like those signed in colonial times by African kings who were duped or coerced. It does not aim to protect the Congolese people, but rather to secure imperialist interests in the region, at the expense of national sovereignty. It is worth recalling that a year ago (February 2024), the European Union signed an agreement with Rwanda on sustainable value chains for raw materials while war was raging in the DRC with Rwanda’s involvement alongside the M23 rebels. It is proven and documented by the UN and NATO countries that Rwanda arms the M23 and plunders the DRC’s mineral resources in return. Therefore, such an agreement is so appalling that MEPs passed a resolution in February 2025 to demand the suspension of this agreement, the freezing of budgetary and military aid to Rwanda and M23. The USA also urged Rwanda to stop its aggression against the DRC and even threatened sanctions. Yet, it is practically the same entities now pushing for a mining agreement on the DRC.
And therefore, this agreement will further legitimize Rwanda’s aggression against the DRC. It makes Washington an arbiter in a conflict where it is clearly a judge and party. In reality, the victim (the DRC) is placed under the tutelage of the protector of its executioner (Rwanda). It is a true political-diplomatic scandal that demonstrates the level of alienation of some African leaders.
What the DRC–USA-Rwanda agreement organizes is the continuation and legalization of the international network of looting Congolese resources, with the imperialist powers of NATO as the orchestrators, their predatory multinationals, and Rwanda as the regional relay. The Congolese people, instead of being masters of their resources, become hostages of a globalized mafia system that turns their wealth into a curse.
In the face of this new neocolonial aggression, African revolutionaries and patriots must learn from history. True independence is not obtained through military agreements with imperialists, nor by appealing for help to those who organize our submission.
The only viable path is that of organized resistance, breaking away from imperialist alliances, and building active solidarity among African peoples fighting against neocolonialism. This necessary awakening involves rejecting any reformist illusion and overturning puppet regimes that trade national sovereignty in the name of “security” or “cooperation.”
In conclusion, this agreement under negotiation is not a solution for peace in Congo: it is an additional step in the plan to dismember, occupy, and plunder this martyr country. Like Patrice Lumumba or Laurent-Désiré Kabila, fighters for the country’s genuine independence, the Congolese people are called to mobilize to put an end to this new imperialist dictate to which President Tshisekedi submits.
Sovereignty is not pleaded for. It is conquered through struggle, defended through organization, and consolidated through the consciousness of the masses. It is the duty of progressive forces in Africa and the world to stand alongside the Congolese people to demand the immediate end of this imposed war, the withdrawal of all foreign forces, and the full restitution of its sovereignty.
Dine