A new exposé reveals how Rwandan-backed M23 rebels continue to control Congo’s lucrative gold trade, undermining official reform efforts led by Kinshasa and the UAE. Despite a joint venture meant to clean up the sector, smuggling networks tied to Rwanda have expanded under the cover of war, fueling conflict, corruption, and environmental devastation.
EXPOSED: Conflict Gold in Congo:
As Rwanda-backed M23 rebels seized key eastern Congolese trade hubs and gold-rich territories in early 2025, a deeper pattern of organized looting has once again come to light, one that reveals how Congo’s mineral wealth continues to fund violence, foreign interference, and environmental destruction.
A new report by Global Initiative shows how Congolese gold is still flowing through murky, unregulated supply chains, despite efforts by the Congolese government and international partners to formalize the sector. The study raises critical alarms: Rwanda’s covert role as a smuggling corridor has not stopped; it has intensified under the cover of war.
The Failed Gold Venture: Primera and the Illusion of Reform
At the center of this exposé is Primera Gold DRC SA, a joint venture launched in December 2022 between Kinshasa and a UAE-registered firm. It was touted as a bold step to clean up Congo’s artisanal gold sector and curb smuggling, especially to neighboring Rwanda, which has long served as an illegal exit route for looted Congolese minerals.
By 2023, Primera had exported over five tonnes of gold worth $300 million, mostly from South Kivu. But behind the numbers lies a troubling reality:
Gold was extracted from zones controlled by non-state armed groups, many linked to Rwanda.
Evidence of child labor, illegal dredging, and environmental destruction was found.
MINING AND MINERALS
EXPOSED: How Rwanda’s Proxy War Hijacked a $300M Reform Deal
Jan 28, 2026
May 15, 2026
4 min read
Published
Updated:
A new exposé reveals how Rwandan-backed M23 rebels continue to control Congo’s lucrative gold trade, undermining official reform efforts led by Kinshasa and the UAE. Despite a joint venture meant to clean up the sector, smuggling networks tied to Rwanda have expanded under the cover of war, fueling conflict, corruption, and environmental devastation.
EXPOSED: Conflict Gold in Congo:
As Rwanda-backed M23 rebels seized key eastern Congolese trade hubs and gold-rich territories in early 2025, a deeper pattern of organized looting has once again come to light, one that reveals how Congo’s mineral wealth continues to fund violence, foreign interference, and environmental destruction.
A new report by Global Initiative shows how Congolese gold is still flowing through murky, unregulated supply chains, despite efforts by the Congolese government and international partners to formalize the sector. The study raises critical alarms: Rwanda’s covert role as a smuggling corridor has not stopped; it has intensified under the cover of war.
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The Failed Gold Venture: Primera and the Illusion of Reform
At the center of this exposé is Primera Gold DRC SA, a joint venture launched in December 2022 between Kinshasa and a UAE-registered firm. It was touted as a bold step to clean up Congo’s artisanal gold sector and curb smuggling, especially to neighboring Rwanda, which has long served as an illegal exit route for looted Congolese minerals.
By 2023, Primera had exported over five tonnes of gold worth $300 million, mostly from South Kivu. But behind the numbers lies a troubling reality:
Gold was extracted from zones controlled by non-state armed groups, many linked to Rwanda.
Evidence of child labor, illegal dredging, and environmental destruction was found.
Worse still, the destination of the revenues remains opaque, raising red flags about elite capture and foreign profiteering.
Rwanda’s Shadow Continues to Loom Over Congo’s Gold
While the UAE engaged with Kinshasa in this joint venture, UAE-based firms simultaneously continued importing gold from Rwanda, a country without significant gold reserves, yet one of Africa’s top exporters. The United Nations has repeatedly documented Rwanda’s role in laundering gold smuggled out of Congo through a system that rewards conflict and punishes accountability.
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This is resource theft dressed in diplomacy, where Rwandan-backed violence paves the way for foreign enrichment, while Congolese communities suffer displacement, ecological destruction, and exploitation.
Who Benefits? The Hidden Hands Behind Congo’s Gold
The report further exposes how influential elites shaped and benefited from the Primera Gold venture, all while evading financial transparency. It slams the absence of proper oversight from:
Regional watchdogs like the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR),
Financial institutions and banks,
Global certification bodies are responsible for clean supply chains.
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With no ICGLR audit of Primera’s operations, and with UAE refineries processing gold of unknown origin, the system is wide open for Rwanda’s shadow networks to thrive.
A Global Crisis: Conflict Gold, Dirty Deals, and Complicity
Over two years of fieldwork and research make one thing clear: Congo’s gold sector remains deeply entangled with armed conflict, foreign interference (especially from Rwanda), and corporate impunity.
The promises of reform through partnerships like Primera have collapsed under the weight of corruption and regional sabotage.
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