Congo offers US minerals in exchange for security

THE Democratic Republic of Congo has offered the US exclusive access to its critical minerals and infrastructure projects in return for security assistance amid a rebellion backed by the country’s neighbour, Rwanda.Citing a letter to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Bloomberg News said Congo asked for an urgent meeting between its president Felix Tshisekedi and Donald Trump, the US president. The pact that would give American companies access to some of the most coveted minerals for the energy transition, said the newswire.“As the world’s largest supplier of cobalt and a major producer of lithium, tantalum and uranium, the DRC’s resources are integral to US industrial competitiveness and national security,” an Africa-US business group lobbying on Congo’s behalf said in the letter.A partnership “presents a unique opportunity for the United States to establish a reliable and exclusive supply chain.”The letter shows Tshisekedi has become increasingly desperate in his fight against Rwanda, which supports a rebel group that’s threatened to overthrow his government and seized a wide swath of the country’s mineral-rich east, said the newswire.But questions over corruption and child labour have long troubled Congo’s mineral exports and will be a major barrier to US investment.“For the DRC, this would likely involve lengthy, tricky renegotiations of mining contracts, while it is difficult to see the Trump administration being able to mobilise US investors,” Joshua Walker, program director for the Congo Research Group at New York University’s Center on International Cooperation told Bloomberg News.“And it is still unclear whether the new administration will commit significant resources to ending Rwandan aggression in the DRC,” he said.The letter offers US companies operational control and “exclusive extraction and export rights.” It also proposes involvement in a planned deep-water port on Congo’s Atlantic coast and the establishment of a joint strategic mineral stockpile, said Bloomberg.In exchange, the US would provide training and equipment for Congo’s armed forces as well as direct security assistance. It would have access to military bases “to protect strategic resources,” said Bloomberg News.The post Congo offers US minerals in exchange for security appeared first on Miningmx.Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com