THE Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the United States have entered into talks over access to the rich mineral resources in the African country in return for security support, it was reported today.
The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that the DRC are putting their vast supplies of uranium, copper and cobalt on the table in a bid to shore up support for President Felix Tshisekedi as he struggles to hold back the surge of the Rwanda-backed M23 militia.
A letter to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio from the Congolese last month proposed that the DRC gives US companies extraction rights over mining projects in the country. The two nations would also collaborate on developing a strategic stockpile of minerals.
The letter goes on to say that in return the US would provide support for training and equipping DRC forces.
The State Department said: “The DRC is endowed with a significant share of the world’s critical minerals.
“The US is open to discussing partnerships in this sector that are aligned with the Trump administration’s America First agenda.”
President Tshisekedi’s spokesperson Tina Salama posted to X that the US, “whose companies source strategic raw materials from Rwanda, materials that are looted from the DRC and smuggled to Rwanda while our populations are massacred, \[should\] purchase them directly from us the rightful owners.”