Contested Congo: The resource curse

Translated by Federico Emanuele

Goma, DR Congo

At the border crossing between the city of Goma, in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the city of Gisenyi, in Rwanda, 288 Romanian mercenaries hired by the Congo-Kinshasa army were captured by the "March 23 Movement" after the M23 seized the largest city in the eastern part of the country.

On January 23, the rebel militias of the “March 23 Movement” began their advance. Rwanda is behind M23.

Their new rebellion against the government and the regular army of the Democratic Republic of the Congo began in 2021. The M23 rebels are supported by Rwanda and Uganda, which formally deny providing them with support; however, this has been confirmed by the United Nations, the United States, and intelligence services of various Western countries.

The support from Rwanda and Uganda for the separatist fighters in the eastern region of North Kivu is officially justified as retaliation: Rwandan militias responsible for the 1994 genocide have been hosted in Congo for years. The real reason lies in the vast mineral wealth of the largest country in Sub-Saharan Africa: gold, diamonds, cobalt, and copper, but especially coltan, abound in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's subsoil.

On January 27, Goma fell.


The resource war

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, the North Kivu region contains mineral deposits worth 24 trillion dollars, which are crucial for the development of global technology. In the Kivu region alone, 70% of the world’s reserves of “coltan” are found, an alloy of columbite and tantalite that forms the fundamental component of micro-capacitors, which are used to store and manage electricity in electronic devices. In short, “coltan” is essential for batteries in electric vehicles, computers, and smartphones.

What is the outcome of this extraordinary concentration of valuable resources? An attempt by all neighboring countries and major international powers to gain control over them.

By the end of 2022, it is estimated that around one thousand non-African soldiers were stationed in Goma. Foreign nationals present in the Democratic Republic of the Congo were reportedly hired through two private companies, one of which is “Asociația RALF,” run by the Romanian mercenary Horațiu Potra (responsible for the personal security of Călin Georgescu, the pro-Russian presidential candidate in Romania). Potra mainly recruits former Romanian military personnel, many of whom, like him, served in the French Foreign Legion.

This contingent of nearly 300 Romanian instructors was expected to provide on-the-ground training and instruction to Congolese troops. However, once they arrived in Congo, the men were drawn into direct combat to stop the M23’s advance: two Romanian citizens were killed during a rebel ambush on a Congolese army convoy.

What primarily attracts Romanian fighters to Africa is the salary: senior personnel earn up to 5,000 dollars a month for active service – whereas regular soldiers in the Kinshasa army receive the equivalent of 100 dollars a month – and nearly 3,000 dollars during leave periods. These contracts stipulate an “indefinite period of service,” with a 30-day break every three months of employment.

M23 handed over the Romanian mercenaries, who had taken refuge in a UN military base, to Rwanda for their repatriation. On February 1, the 288 contractors landed in Bucharest.


“We are the new government of Congo”

Goma, previously captured by M23 rebels in 2012 and later liberated by a United Nations mission, is once again in the hands of militias supported by Rwanda.

M23 claims its "mission" is to defend the Tutsi minority against the Hutu. This ethnic justification serves as a cover for the presence of rebel militias, which have expanded their control over large areas of North Kivu, where they have established a parallel administration dedicated to the direct export of minerals to Rwanda.

The war in Congo is a bloody economic conflict aimed at seizing its raw materials, which are abundant and low-cost. However, this very factor attracts interest from the European Union and other strategic players in the international community, primarily Russia and China.

A year ago, on February 19, 2024, the EU signed an agreement with Rwanda for the trade of "critical minerals and rare earths." However, Rwanda is neither a producer nor a holder of these materials.

For decades, the Kigali government has been criticized for fueling ethnic conflict between Tutsi and Hutu in neighboring Congo and for creating instability by funding armed militias to effectively control the territory where illegal mineral extraction occurs. Whoever controls the territory controls the trade of these blood minerals.

According to UN sources, M23 sends 120 tons of "coltan" to Rwanda every month. This is why Rwanda is the world's leading exporter of the valuable mineral despite having no mines. The agreement between the EU and Kigali reveals the ambiguity of the European Union and the international community, as well as their cynical policy of pursuing economic interests even in the face of an obvious and recognized aggression against a sovereign country. It also confirms Africa's struggle to escape the "colonial curse".

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