For nearly three decades, the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been a theatre of conflict, largely fuelled by the vast mineral wealth hidden beneath its soil. Central to this turmoil is Rwanda’s persistent role in destabilising the region—an involvement sustained by tacit and explicit backing from Western powers, notably Europe and the United States, writes Marc Botenga
Since the late 1990s, Rwanda has repeatedly supported armed groups operating across the North and South Kivu provinces in the East of the DRC. The first wave of this destabilisation occurred between 1998 and 2003, when Rwanda, alongside Uganda, occupied large swathes of eastern Congo. This occupation aimed to challenge the independent policies of then-President Laurent-Désiré Kabila and only ended after regional peace accords and political agreements such as the 2002 Sun City agreement in South Africa.
The second wave followed in 2004, when troops loyal to the rebel leader Mutebuzi—once again backed by Rwanda—seized control of Bukavu, plunging South Kivu into chaos. In 2009, Laurent Nkunda’s offensive on Goma marked the third wave of destabilisation in North Kivu. By 2012, the M-23 rebel group, heavily supported by Rwanda and emerging from the ashes of previous rebellions, captured Goma before being repelled by the Congolese army and the United Nations peacekeeping force MONUSCO, with South African forces playing a leading role.
Since 2021, a revitalised M-23, now allied with the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC), has seized ever more territory, advancing towards Bukavu and the mineral-rich Katanga region. The United Nations has reported that Rwanda not only supplies arms and funding but also deployed up to four thousand soldiers on Congolese soil. The human cost has been catastrophic: over six million deaths and more than seven million displaced refugees.
Western finance, arms, agreements
Despite repeated denunciations by the United Nations and others, Kigali continues to enjoy robust support from the West. The United States has provided Rwanda with substantial financial aid—around $1.3 billion annually in recent years, equating to roughly one-third of Rwanda’s government budget. The European Union has also deepened its engagement, signing a significant Memorandum of Understanding focused on natural resources and pledging nearly €900 million in investments through the Global Gateway initiative.
This funding supports Rwanda’s budget and infrastructure while enabling European firms to access vital mineral supplies. Concurrently, the EU provides about €20 million annually to the Rwandan army under the guise of promoting regional stability. Poland has pledged to supply Rwanda with some of its most advanced weapons and military technology. These forms of support reveal a stark double standard: while the West publicly calls for peace in the DRC, it simultaneously empowers one of the region’s chief destabilising actors.
Peace in DRC cannot be imposed by foreign powers with vested interests. Western imperialism counts on Africans killing each other so it can continue to plunder the continent. Yesterday they supported one side, today the other, in order to divide and conquer. We need to put an end to the interference and complicity of the United States and the European Union in destabilising the region.
Minerals engine of conflict
The West’s support for Rwanda cannot be understood without seeing how Kigali’s backing of the M-23 rebels facilitates the illegal smuggling of critical minerals. The mineral wealth of eastern DRC is immense and strategically critical. The country holds over 70% of the world’s cobalt reserves, but also wields huge reserves of other critical minerals essential for electric vehicle batteries, renewable energy technologies, and military hardware. The provinces of North and South Kivu are especially prized for deposits of coltan and cobalt.
Western countries always kept their eye on that prize. During the drafting and adoption of the DRC 2018 Mining Code—a major overhaul of the 2002 law—Belgium and other Western governments reportedly exerted pressure on the Congolese authorities to moderate royalty increases and avoid measures that could “threaten” the business climate for foreign investors, thus guaranteeing Western corporate profits over local development.
The destabilization of the east of the DRC allowed Rwanda to surpass the DRC in exports of certain minerals—an extraordinary feat given Congo’s far larger resource base. The EU-Rwanda Memorandum of Understanding on critical raw materials even emboldened the M-23 and their Rwandan supporters. Just two months after signing the agreement, M-23 forces seized Rubaya, a strategic Congolese town responsible for 15% of the world’s coltan production.
US-China rivalry
The M-23’s attempted march southward along Lake Tanganyika towards Katanga province equally transcends local conflict. Katanga is one of the DRC’s most mineral-rich regions, endowed with vast deposits of cobalt, copper, and other strategic minerals.
Over the past decade, Chinese companies have established a prominent role in Katanga’s mining sector, with state-owned and private Chinese firms controlling many key concessions. The United States and Europe perceive this Chinese presence as a threat to their own monopolistic access to vital raw materials.
Western governments and corporations have sought therefore to strengthen their foothold in Katanga through partnerships with the Congolese government, aiming to secure mining rights. An M-23 advance towards Katanga would directly challenge Chinese-controlled mining operations.
Tshisekedi’s peace offer to Trump
In a desperate bid for stability and to secure his presidency, Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi offered former U.S. President Donald Trump exclusive access to critical mineral deposits in exchange for security assistance against the Rwandan-backed rebels. This proposal involved sites controlled by the M-23—such as the coltan deposit at Rubaya and pyrochlore at Lueshe—as well as lithium reserves at Manono in Tanganyika province. The Manono lithium project already benefits from a $1 billion investment by KoBold Metals, backed by Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos.
Although the U.S. has long supported Rwanda, it has recently shown explicit interest in backing the Congolese government against M-23, negotiating mining deals and providing military aid. Private military contractors linked to the U.S. are training Congolese forces, ostensibly to combat rebels but also to secure resource-rich areas. The scale of military support under discussion reportedly includes $800 million in contracts covering combat aircraft, drones, and training for thousands of special forces troops. Notably, U.S.-linked private military firms such as Erik Prince’s Frontier Services Group—known for its controversial mercenary history—are involved.
Weakening the Congolese state
The Western establishment might present the deals as a pathway to peace. In reality, they are likely to undermine Congo’s sovereignty. Western military contractors and Congolese forces under foreign influence might end up managing or at least controlling the country’s resources, with potential state revenues siphoned off to multinational corporations.
Estimates of Africa’s revenue losses due to multinational corporations evading their fair tax share are staggering. According to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and other analysts, the DRC loses approximately $1 to $2 billion annually due to tax avoidance and illicit financial flows. Reports by Global Financial Integrity highlight that illicit flows related to the mining sector rank among Africa’s highest. These include transfer mispricing by multinational mining firms, under-invoicing exports, and over-invoicing imports. A 2023 report by the African Tax Administration Forum emphasised that transfer pricing abuses in the DRC’s mining sector alone result in hundreds of millions of dollars of lost tax revenues annually.
A permanently weakened Congolese state will never be able to govern effectively or secure its territory, thereby inviting further rebel activity and external interference. The cynical pattern of supporting Rwanda’s attacks on Congo, only to subsequently offer support to Kinshasa in exchange for mineral access, is deeply troubling.
African role crucial
Western governments must face pressure to fundamentally change their policies towards Rwanda and the DRC. Rather than treating Rwanda as a “partner,” the EU and the U.S. should leverage their influence to compel Kigali to halt its military incursions and support for armed groups in the DRC. A coherent Western policy, including a military embargo on Rwanda, could play a pivotal role in stabilising the region. Rather than pushing for “business environments” that facilitate the plunder of natural resources, we need to demand that Western governments support international initiatives for fair taxation of multinational corporations.
But the real alternative will come from Africa itself. Peace in the east of the DR Congo cannot be imposed by foreign powers with vested interests. Western imperialism counts on Africans killing each other so it can continue to plunder the continent. Yesterday they supported one side, today the other, in order to divide and conquer and to position themselves as masters of the game. To get out of this war that has been ravaging the region for far too long, we need to put an end to the interference and complicity of the United States and the European Union in destabilising the region.
Lasting stability demands dialogue and agreements among local communities, factions, and neighbouring states. Stabilisation will allow to build infrastructure and develop a real economy that creates jobs and lays the foundations for harmonious coexistence. Only pan-Africanist, sovereignist and anti-imperialist forces that choose the path of unity and peace can bring peace.
Marc Botenga is MEP for the Workers’ Party of Belgium (PVDA-PTB), sits on the parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs and Subcommittee on Security and Defence, parliamentary delegations for relations with Palestine, the Africa-EU Parliamentary Assembly, and to the OACPS-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, which strengthens cooperation between the EU and the Organization of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States.
This article first appeared in Liberation journal.
Photo: Luwowo Coltan mine near Rubaya, North Kivu the 18th of March 2014. © MONUSCO/Sylvain/ Creative Commons
The views expressed in the articles published on this website do not necessarily represent those of Liberation.
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