DR Congo Officially Starts Minerals-for-Security Deal Talks with the U.S.

“You have heard about a minerals agreement. We have reviewed the Congo’s proposal. I am happy to announce that the president and I have agreed on a path forward for its development,” Boulos told the press after the meeting. He didn’t give more details on what the path forward would entail, only saying that “American companies [will operate] transparently and will stimulate local economies.”

DR Congo is home to vast reserves of natural minerals like copper, cobalt, lithium and even gold. However, the central African country has been beset by decades of internal conflict, and is currently dealing with an advance in its resource-rich eastern region by the M23 rebels, reportedly backed by neighboring Rwanda. A minerals deal with the U.S. could help improve security, with Boulos stating that the U.S. wants “a lasting peace that affirms the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the DRC.”

The deal could also grant the U.S. foothold in DR Congo, as America looks to rival China’s influence and vast operations in the country.

However, the possibility of a minerals-for-security deal has been scrutinized by analysts as a potential continuation of the plundering of DR Congo’s resources, without addressing the decades long issues like insecurity, poverty, child labor and many more.

“I'm not expecting that the signing of the deal between the DRC and the U.S. will bring peace automatically,” extractive industries expert Jean Pierre Okendatold OkayAfrica recently. “We need to take a combined approach and think widely. We want to ensure that we address all the challenges this country faces. Most of these problems point to the leadership and how it acts.”

Earlier this week, President Tshisekedi commuted the death sentences of three American citizens convicted for participating in a failed coup last year. The semi-pardon is seen as a gesture to help with the minerals deal. Also, the DR Congo government is expected to start direct peace talks with M23 next week, in hopes of ending the weeks of conflict that has seen the armed rebel group take over two major cities in eastern Congo.

In a gesture of goodwill ahead of the talks in Doha, Qatar, M23 has withdrawn from Walikale, a strategic part of the country that links all four provinces in eastern DRC. Initial peace talks were shuttered by M23 following sanctions by the European Union.