Congo readies to pitch mineral projects to US investors

[Ben Graham]

The Democratic Republic of Congo is sending the United States a list of mineral projects open to American investment as Washington steps up efforts to counter China’s dominance in critical supply chains.

Congo’s mines minister, Louis Watum, said the list would be delivered this week and would form the basis of commercial talks, stressing the country is not offering assets on preferential terms. Watum spoke on Wednesday at the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh, weeks after Washington and Kinshasa announced a minerals agreement without naming specific deposits.

The move follows a Dec. 4 accord that gives US companies privileged access to Congo’s vast reserves of copper, cobalt, lithium and tantalum, materials central to electric vehicles, defence systems and advanced electronics. Congo is the world’s second-largest copper producer and the leading supplier of cobalt, a key battery metal.

US vows over $1 billion for Congo critical minerals supply chain

“We are sending this week to the US a list of strategic projects where the US can invest,” Congo Mines Minister Louis Watum told attendees according to Bloomberg News. “It’s going to be, strictly speaking, a commercial discussion. It’s not going to be like we are giving it for free, not at all.”

Chinese companies, such as CMOC, currently dominate production of both metals in Congo, where copper and cobalt are often mined together. US firms have historically stayed away, citing conflict, corruption and logistical challenges, while Chinese operators have expanded rapidly.

China’s hold

Kinshasa hopes a wave of American investment will dilute that dominance. In 2007, Congo granted Chinese miners tax breaks running until 2040 in exchange for promised investments of $9 billion, of which only about $6 billion materialized. At the time, Western governments showed little interest in curbing sales to Chinese buyers. 

By the time President Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025, Chinese firms controlled about 80% of Congo’s mining output, including Tenke Fungurume, once owned by an US company and now the world’s second-largest source of cobalt, run by CMOC.

The minerals pact forms part of a broader US-brokered peace agreement between Congo and neighbouring Rwanda, aimed at ending decades of violence in eastern Congo. 

Congo offers US, Europe minerals in exchange for peace

Under the so-called “Washington Accords”, the US will help oversee a regional peace process in return for Congo facilitating American investment.

Watum described the deal as a framework designed to deliver mutual benefits, even as fighting continues in parts of the country, echoing concerns seen in similar US resource agreements elsewhere.

Washington has identified 60 critical minerals essential to technologies ranging from weapons systems to wind turbines and semiconductors, many of which are predominantly supplied by China. President Donald Trump has pushed to diversify supply, including through recent resource deals and proposals abroad, arguing that access to minerals is a strategic priority.