The Democratic Republic of Congo views its burgeoning relationship with the United States in the critical minerals sector not as a competition with China, but as a vital opportunity for complementary partnerships to foster national prosperity, according to Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner. Speaking exclusively at the United Nations, Wagner emphasized that a nation as significant as the DRC requires diverse international collaborations, stating, “I don’t like talking about competition. I like talking about complementarity.” She highlighted that the U.S. initiative to increase access to Congo’s vast reserves of copper, cobalt, lithium, and gold, alongside a strategic partnership signed in December 2025 aimed at securing supply chains and enhancing economic cooperation, is welcomed as a means to translate mineral wealth into tangible benefits for Congolese citizens. This U.S. engagement, which includes potential priority access for American buyers and investment from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, is seen as a concrete step towards mutual economic interests. Wagner also cautioned against an “extractive transition” where raw materials leave Africa without local processing or profit, calling for partnerships that support industrialization, technology transfer, and local development. The U.S. involvement is intertwined with a peace process between the DRC and Rwanda, where Washington’s willingness to impose sanctions on entities supporting rebel groups like M23, which controls key mining areas and engages in mineral smuggling, is seen as encouraging evidence of a committed partnership, even as the DRC continues to link natural resource control with ongoing conflict and sexual violence in the eastern regions.
Adapted from: Latest World News on Fox News
