US-Congo minerals, security talks in early stages, minister says

Talks between the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Trump administration over a possible minerals and security deal are in the early stages, the central African country’s foreign minister said.

In a letter last month, Congo offered the US exclusive access to critical minerals and infrastructure projects in exchange for security assistance as it battles a rebellion backed by neighboring Rwanda in its mineral-rich east. The talks were partly inspired by a similar offer the US made to Ukraine, Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner said in an interview on Thursday.

“I think it’s something that still needs to mature, and that both parties are certainly investing the necessary time, but also the necessary effort to make sure that if there are any agreements that are going to be taken, that they meet the interests of both parties,” she said.

Congo is the world’s second-largest copper producer, the biggest source of cobalt and has large deposits of lithium, tantalum, tin and gold.

KoBold Metals Co., backed by billionaires Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, has expressed an interest in Congo’s lithium deposits, the first major investment offer by a large US mining company.

President Felix Tshisekedi has dangled his country’s resources as a way to attract support from US President Donald Trump’s administration, which is looking to shore up its access to the minerals critical for the green-energy transition. Chinese companies currently dominate the industry in the central African nation, which is notorious for its difficult business climate.

“I know that there is a perception that some countries or some regions are more active in the DRC and some sectors of our economy,” Kayikwamba said. “For us it is a challenge of understanding what is it that makes our business environment more hospitable for some and less for others.”

The advance by the M23 rebels, who have captured eastern Congo’s biggest cities, has also spooked some miners.

Last week, Toronto-listed tin miner Alphamin Resources Corp. evacuated its mines in eastern Congo as the rebels expanded their territory. Some companies in the copper and cobalt-rich Katanga region, more than 600 miles away from the fighting, have had some staff leave the country.

Kayikwamba said she understood investors’ “completely legitimate” concerns about the risk. “It’s not something we’re downplaying.”

The US and EU have both slapped sanctions on Rwanda for its role in the fighting, though Kigali denies supporting the rebels.

(By Michael J. Kavanagh and Antony Sguazzin)