Congo’s sovereignty now has to be the essential condition for economic trade. The country’s leverage is its resources, chiefly cobalt, copper, lithium, and tantalum.” — Judi Rever
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is no longer standing at the edge of the global economy. It is at the centre of the competition shaping the future of technology, clean energy, artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing and defence.
China wants secure access to Congo’s minerals. The United States and its allies want diversified supply chains that reduce their dependence on Chinese processing. Global technology and automotive companies need the cobalt, copper, lithium and tantalum found beneath Congolese soil.
That reality gives Kinshasa something far more valuable than attention: leverage.
In a new analysis published by Canadian Dimension, Canadian investigative journalist Judi Rever argues that the DRC should use this exceptional position to place peace and sovereignty at the heart of every major minerals partnership.
Her central message is direct: “Congo’s sovereignty now has to be the essential condition for economic trade.”
That principle offers the DRC a powerful path forward. Access to Congolese minerals should produce more than export contracts. It should help secure territorial integrity, remove foreign forces and armed proxies from Congolese territory, strengthen transparent supply chains and generate visible development for the Congolese people.
The world needs what Congo has
The technologies driving the modern economy depend on minerals that the DRC possesses at extraordinary scale.
Cobalt is essential for many electric-vehicle batteries, energy-storage systems and aerospace applications. Copper carries the electricity required for power grids, data centres, smart devices and industrial expansion. Lithium is central to battery production, while tantalum is used in electronics, telecommunications, aerospace equipment and other high-performance technologies.
PEACE FOR DRC NOW
Congo’s Minerals Are Global Power and Kinshasa should set the terms
Sep 11, 2026
Sep 11, 2026
8 min read
Published
Updated:
Congo’s sovereignty now has to be the essential condition for economic trade. The country’s leverage is its resources, chiefly cobalt, copper, lithium, and tantalum.” — Judi Rever
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is no longer standing at the edge of the global economy. It is at the centre of the competition shaping the future of technology, clean energy, artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing and defence.
China wants secure access to Congo’s minerals. The United States and its allies want diversified supply chains that reduce their dependence on Chinese processing. Global technology and automotive companies need the cobalt, copper, lithium and tantalum found beneath Congolese soil.
That reality gives Kinshasa something far more valuable than attention: leverage.
In a new analysis published by Canadian Dimension, Canadian investigative journalist Judi Rever argues that the DRC should use this exceptional position to place peace and sovereignty at the heart of every major minerals partnership.
Her central message is direct: “Congo’s sovereignty now has to be the essential condition for economic trade.”
That principle offers the DRC a powerful path forward. Access to Congolese minerals should produce more than export contracts. It should help secure territorial integrity, remove foreign forces and armed proxies from Congolese territory, strengthen transparent supply chains and generate visible development for the Congolese people.
The world needs what Congo has
The technologies driving the modern economy depend on minerals that the DRC possesses at extraordinary scale.
Cobalt is essential for many electric-vehicle batteries, energy-storage systems and aerospace applications. Copper carries the electricity required for power grids, data centres, smart devices and industrial expansion. Lithium is central to battery production, while tantalum is used in electronics, telecommunications, aerospace equipment and other high-performance technologies.
The US Geological Survey’s 2026 mineral summaries reinforce the DRC’s importance as a world-leading source of cobalt and tantalum and as a major copper producer. Congo’s mineral wealth is therefore not peripheral to the global technological transition—it is one of its foundations.
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China understood this strategic reality early. Chinese companies became leading investors in Congolese copper and cobalt projects, supported by infrastructure-for-resources arrangements and long-term commercial partnerships.
The United States is now moving to strengthen its own access to strategic minerals. American-backed investors have shown interest in Congolese copper, cobalt, lithium, gold, manganese and tantalum opportunities. The growing interest in the Manono lithium project further demonstrates how the DRC is becoming indispensable to the next generation of global battery supply chains.
For Congo, this competition creates an opening to negotiate from strength.
Peace should be the price of strategic access
Judi Rever’s argument connects mineral diplomacy directly to the security crisis in eastern Congo. She contends that international partners seeking privileged access to Congolese resources should also support the restoration of Congolese authority throughout the national territory.
This position is consistent with the commitments already placed at the centre of international diplomacy. The Washington peace framework recognizes territorial integrity and the withdrawal of foreign forces as essential elements of peace. In June 2026, the United States Treasury again stated that Rwanda must withdraw its troops and military equipment from the DRC and end support for M23.
Kinshasa can build on these commitments by making security performance inseparable from economic cooperation.
A minerals agreement should not be treated as complete when signatures are placed on paper. Its value to Congo should also be measured by whether it advances peace, protects communities, restores state authority, stops illicit mineral flows and creates legal economic opportunities in affected provinces.
The message to every global partner can be constructive and firm: a peaceful Congo is the most reliable foundation for a secure mineral supply chain.
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Ending the trade in Congo’s stolen wealth
The battle for eastern Congo is also a battle over who controls and profits from Congolese resources.
The Global Witness investigation Who buys Rwanda’s smuggled coltan? traced coltan reportedly moved from DRC territory through Rwanda and onward to international traders and smelters. Its findings illustrate why mineral traceability is a sovereignty issue, not simply a corporate compliance exercise.
Every tonne of Congolese mineral exported through an unauthorized network represents lost public revenue, weakened state authority and fewer resources for roads, schools, hospitals, electricity and employment.
The international demand for responsible supply chains gives the DRC another source of negotiating power. Kinshasa can insist that buyers recognize Congolese origin, exclude supply linked to armed control, disclose traders and smelters, and support traceability systems led by Congolese institutions.
Major technology, automotive and defence companies should be able to demonstrate that their products do not depend on minerals removed from Congo through violence or illegal cross-border networks.
From mineral access to Congolese prosperity
Peace is the first return Congo should demand—but it should not be the only one.
Future partnerships can help move the DRC from exporting raw materials toward processing, refining and manufacturing more of its minerals at home. That means creating Congolese jobs in geological research, engineering, mineral certification, transport, battery materials, component production, logistics and industrial services.
Strategic agreements can also be tied to measurable infrastructure: reliable electricity for mining communities, rehabilitated roads and railways, modern border facilities, clean drinking water, technical schools, hospitals and digital systems that make revenue collection more transparent.
For young Congolese people, the minerals race should translate into scholarships, apprenticeships, technology transfer and careers in the industries their country helps power.
For producing communities, it should deliver visible social investment, environmental restoration and a fair share of the wealth generated from their land.
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For the Congolese state, it should strengthen control over production, taxation, certification and exports.
This is how natural resources become national power.
Congo can negotiate with both East and West
The DRC does not need to become a passive prize in a confrontation between China and the United States. Its strongest position is to remain sovereign, pragmatic and focused on Congolese interests.
Kinshasa can work with China, the United States, Europe, the Gulf states and other partners while applying the same national standard to every agreement: respect Congo’s sovereignty, support peace, create local value, transfer skills, build infrastructure and deliver measurable benefits to citizens.
Competition among global powers can work in Congo’s favour when the country defines its priorities clearly and negotiates confidently.
The world is racing for the minerals of the future. The DRC possesses those minerals today. That gives Congo the right—and the responsibility—to demand partnerships worthy of its strategic importance.
The country should never again be asked to exchange its wealth for promises while its people carry the cost of conflict. Congo’s minerals can power the world, but they must first help secure Congo’s peace, sovereignty and prosperity.
That is the opportunity before Kinshasa. And this time, Congo holds the cards.
About the original analysis
This article draws on arguments advanced by Montréal journalist Judi Rever in “The US and China want Congo’s minerals. Kinshasa should demand peace in return”, published by Canadian Dimension. Rever is the author of In Praise of Blood: The Crimes of the Rwandan Patriotic Front and Rwanda’s 30-Year Assault on Congo: The Crimes, the Criminals, and the Cover-Up.
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