Kinshasa – Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi, battling anti-government forces in the country’s resource-rich east, on Thursday discussed a possible mining deal with a senior envoy of US President Donald Trump, officials said.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s enormous mineral reserves are critical to global supplies of lithium and cobalt, used in cell batteries and electric vehicles, tantalum, tin and gold in electronic devices, and copper for power lines and uranium.
On Thursday, Trump’s senior advisor for Africa and the Middle East, Massad Boulos, met with Tshisekedi on a visit to Kinshasa, the DR Congo presidency said.
The DRC’s mineral- and resource-rich east has been plagued by three decades of deadly conflict, which has escalated in recent months.
Fighters of the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group took control of the city of Goma, capital of North Kivu province, at the end of January, followed weeks later by the capital of neighbouring South Kivu, Bukavu.
State Department Senior Advisor for Africa Massad Boulos met President Tshisekedi today in Kinshasa to discuss ways to enhance our bilateral partnership and make both our countries more prosperous, including by boosting U.S. private sector investment in the DRC and working with… pic.twitter.com/F7gQ5rGb4I
— Bureau of African Affairs (@AsstSecStateAF) April 3, 2025
Boulos, a Lebanese-born American whose son is married to Trump’s daughter Tiffany, was recently named to a new role of senior advisor for Africa, in addition to his existing role of senior advisor to the president on Arab and Middle Eastern Affairs.
Taken note
Boulos had arrived late Wednesday in Kinshasa for talks in the capital, DRC presidency spokesman Giscard Kusema told AFP.
“We have taken note of the DRC’s proposal, and I am pleased to announce that the President and I have agreed on a way forward for its development,” a press release released by the Congolese presidency quoted Boulos, who is also due to visit Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda, as saying.
The US state department had said on Tuesday that his visit was “to advance efforts for durable peace in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and to promote US private sector investment in the region”.
According to several diplomatic sources, the issue of “mining interests” was among the subjects up for discussion.
Boulos was also said to be meeting DRC business leaders.
Tshisekedi in recent weeks has spoken in the media about talks on a possible mining deal with the United States without saying if other issues in return, including on security, were under discussion.
Much of the mining in eastern DRC is criticised for opaque supply chains and rampant corruption. Much of it is also in the hands of Chinese entities.
Angola had been leading mediation attempts until last month, when in a surprise Qatar hosted talks in Doha between Tshisekedi and Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame.
The two leaders reaffirmed in a joint statement support for a ceasefire, but within hours, the M23 took control of the North Kivu town of Walikale, in a region rich in tin and gold.
Walikale withdrawal
Thursday, the M23 withdrew from Walikale, according to security and local sources.
“The enemy has left the area,” an officer of the Congolese armed forces (FARDC) told AFP on condition of anonymity.
“The M23 fighters have withdrawn and are on their way to Goma,” confirmed Fiston Misona, a civil society representative in the area.
The capture of the town of 60,000 inhabitants, located some 230 kilometres (145 miles) from Goma and Bukavu, forced mining group Alphamin to suspend activities at the Bisie tin mine, the world’s third-largest.
Alphamin is majority-owned by Mauritius-based investment firm Tremont Master Holdings, created by US private equity giant Denham Capital.
Too early
Following his talks on Thursday, the US envoy Boulos was quoted as saying that “There cannot be economic prosperity without security,” and that the US was ready to “contribute to the end of the conflict,” without providing more details.
“It is still too early to envisage an accord. Even if this is not what Congolese leaders want to hear at the moment, this kind of agreement takes a long time to materialise,” said Jacques Mukena, a researcher specialising in issues of governance at Kinshasa’s Ebuteli research institute.
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Source: AFP
