After years of largely unchallenged control over the DR Congo’s critical minerals, China now faces growing US competition – a battle that Beijing is determined to win.
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Now, a US consortium – including firms led by ex-military executives – has bid for the operator of the Etoile copper-cobalt mine. Meanwhile, KoBold Metals, backed by Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, secured a deal with the DR Congo to explore the Manono lithium deposit, despite an ongoing legal dispute with Australia’s AVZ Minerals.
The deals come shortly after a US-brokered “minerals-for-security” agreement between the DR Congo and Rwanda, signed last month to help end the decades-long conflict in the eastern Congo. It aims to secure peace and stability, and in return the United States and its companies will gain access to critical minerals essential for the green energy transition and advanced technologies.
However, Joseph Cihunda, who teaches law at the University of Kinshasa, said the Congolese government was trying to balance relations to avoid becoming a battleground between China and the US, even if Washington sought to escalate competition.
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“Even in Congolese public opinion, they do not want such a confrontation,” Cihunda said.
