US: Trump Peace Accord w/DRC & Rwanda Opens Door For US Rare Earth Investment

At 15:00 ET 20:00 BST, US President Donald Trump will meet the foreign ministers of Rwanda and DR Congo in the Oval Office to sign a US-Qatar brokered peace deal aimed at ending a decades-long conflict in Eastern Congo.  

• The deal is expected to unlock US investment in Eastern Congo, giving US firms a foothold in a region that has been dominated by China since Beijing reached an accord with Kinshasa in 2008. The deal is likely to give the US greater access to lithium, cobalt, and coltan deposits - minerals critical to the global digital economy and clean energy infrastructure.
• Responsible Statecraft notes: “The DRC holds 60% of global coltan reserves. It is also the world's largest producer of cobalt, amounting to approximately 70 percent of the world’s production in 2024... The country's coltan deposits provide tantalum, a metal crucial for manufacturing capacitors used in virtually every electronic device. The DRC also possesses significant reserves of other rare earth elements that support technology manufacturing and are of major interest to the United States."
• The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Chinese authorities are "dragging out approval" of Western companies’ requests for rare-earth magnets despite positive developments toward a rare earth and export control deal.
• Despite moves to unwind the bulk of former President Joe Biden’s foreign policy agenda, Trump appears to be backing the Biden-era Lobito Corridor, a USD$4 billion infrastructure project that will bolster US investment potential in the region.