Rich Ground, Hard Choices: Eastern Congo in October 2026
According to 79, the DRC produces more than half of the world's cobalt, about 90,000 tonnes a year. Despite a United States-brokered peace agreement signed in December, fighting continued and recently reached the highland areas of South Kivu 56. Separately, Washington and Kinshasa signed the US-DRC Strategic Partnership Agreement on 4 December 2025, covering cooperation on critical minerals, infrastructure and governance 67.
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In short
In 1885, after an international conference, the Congo Free State was placed under the personal sovereignty of King Leopold 37. Under his rule, the Force publique was tasked with making the territory profitable through rubber and ivory 9, and some agents used forced labour and the chicotte whip to meet quotas 10. Concession companies acted as their own police, so government restraint on them was little more than nominal 38, and rubber demands in ever-increasing quantities were described as the main cause of the slave trade in the Congo 39. Forced labour was formally abolished in 1908, but a heavy head tax kept compulsory labour in place 64. At independence, the mining industry led by Union Miniere stayed largely in Belgian hands 29, and the Congolese government nationalized it in 1967 30. Today, Washington and Kinshasa signed a minerals partnership in December 2025 67, and as of October 2026 the AU Panel urged strict respect for ceasefire commitments and continued talks in Doha 44.
Leopold's rubber state (1885 to 1908)
The story starts with a decision made in 1885. After an international conference, the Congo Free State was placed under the personal sovereignty of King Leopold 37. Under his rule the Force publique was tasked with making the territory profitable through rubber and ivory 9. To meet quotas, some agents used forced labour and the chicotte, a whip made of strips of hippopotamus hide, and Congolese who broke colonial rules could receive 50 to 100 lashes 10. At the agents' request, the force also took hostages, mostly women, to make husbands work 11.
The system ran on taxes levied through quotas. Districts under the Congo Free State were taxed through quotas of food, porterage, ivory, rubber and other commodities 62, and villagers were forced to spend days searching the forest for rubber vines, delivering food grains, or working as woodcutters for river steamers 63. Concession companies were their own police, so government restraint on them was described as little more than nominal 38. Rubber had to be delivered in ever-increasing quantities, which is why it was described as the main cause of the slave trade in the Congo 39.
Forced labour outlasted the formal rules. After forced labour was formally abolished in 1908, a heavy head tax kept compulsory labour in place, with people made to work on plantations, harvest crops or collect wild rubber 64. Historian Adam Hochschild's account, as summarized in the evidence, says forced labour remained in place after 1908 and was even intensified during the two World Wars 65.
The copper belt at independence (1959 to 1978)
In 1959, according to Henry J. Tasca, the United States obtained three-quarters of its cobalt and half of its tantalum from Katanga 24. Katanga's southern and eastern areas held very large deposits of cobalt, copper, iron, radium, uranium and diamonds 25, and Lubumbashi is sometimes nicknamed the 'copper capital', reflecting a mining economy centred on copper from Katanga 23.
Independence did not automatically hand that wealth to Congolese people. Despite independence, the mining industry led by Union Miniere du Haut Katanga stayed largely in Belgian hands because of agreements made at independence 29. Shortly after independence, Katanga seceded under Moise Tshombe, and UN forces fought the separatist troops from late 1960 until the secession ended in January 1963 3132. The company was also a huge local employer, with over 100,000 people associated with it in 1962 34.
Belgian efforts through the 'Contentieux Agreement' aimed to keep Belgian firms, including Union Minière, dominant over the Congolese economy through negotiations over Congolese debt 28. In February 1964, US Ambassador Gullion warned that the Kwilu uprising could affect output at the Lever plantation and block copper shipments on the Kasai River 26. In 1967 the Congolese government nationalized the Union minière du Haut Katanga, which became GECOMIN and later Gécamines 30. In 1978, about 4,000 rebels from Angola occupied Kolwezi, the province's main mining centre, during the second Shaba war 33.
Peacekeepers and the 2013 turning point (2006 to 2013)
In 2006 a mission was authorised under UN Security Council resolution 1674, which commits it to protecting civilians in armed conflict, a mandate that applies to eastern DR Congo 58. UN peacekeeping mandates in general call on personnel to separate belligerent parties, enforce ceasefire agreements and protect the physical security of civilians 46.
In November 2013, UN peacekeepers from MONUSCO fought alongside the Congolese army in a joint campaign that defeated the M23 rebellion 16. The mission's results were mixed. One study found that MONUSCO made extensive political progress, but human casualties and gender-based violence remained recurrent 59. In a study of UN peacekeeping operations, greater operational experience within a peacekeeping coalition was associated with significantly fewer civilian fatalities 50.
The same region later stayed fragile. A 2025 assessment says eastern DR Congo still suffers recurrent conflict, chronic humanitarian crises and serious human rights violations, including sexual and gender-based violence 60.
Cobalt from the ground up (2019 to 2026)
The DRC produced more than half of the world's cobalt, about 90,000 tonnes a year, as of 2019 79. According to Trafigura, artisanal miners, called creuseurs, supply an estimated 20 to 40% of the cobalt produced in the DRC 77. Many artisanal cobalt mines in the DRC are reportedly illegal, unsafe, polluting, and employ children 75.
Washington's minerals deal (December 2025 to August 2026)
On 4 December 2025, Washington and Kinshasa signed the US-DRC Strategic Partnership Agreement, which covers cooperation on critical minerals, infrastructure and governance 67. It creates a strategic asset reserve of mining, gold and exploration assets over which US persons hold a right of first offer 69. The same day, a defense and security memorandum was signed in Washington 68. The State Department welcomed a separate agreement between Mota-Engil and the Congolese government, calling it fundamental for US mineral supply 66.
The memorandum is thin on detail. It lists protection of critical minerals and rare earths among its objectives but does not detail how that protection would work 70. It does not specify how many soldiers would be trained or the timeline for training 72. It is planned for five years and is not legally binding 73.
Critics in Washington are pushing back. A lawmakers' letter targets public financing from the Development Finance Corporation (DFC), the Export-Import Bank and other federal instruments, arguing that taxpayers could absorb losses while private investors keep profits 71. The US-DRC Strategic Partnership Agreement, signed on 4 December 2025 by Washington and Kinshasa, covers cooperation on critical minerals, infrastructure and governance 67. The evidence I checked does not include US aid dollar figures, so the claim that US policy prioritizes minerals over civilians cannot be tested against aid volume here.
Where things stand now (2025 to October 2026)
On diplomacy, Qatar has mediated talks between the government and M23 since March 2025 53, and Togo serves as the African Union mediator in talks that also include the United States, Qatar, Switzerland and the African Union Commission 42. In April, both sides pledged not to target civilians and to facilitate medical care, and they signed a memorandum creating a ceasefire monitoring mechanism 4751. Human Rights Watch accused the parties of blocking aid deliveries and stopping civilians fleeing the South Kivu highlands 52. The newest checked item, from 7 October 2026, says the AU Panel urged strict respect for ceasefire commitments and continued talks in Doha 44, and that the AFC's Corneille Nangaa said mediators offered only general statements 57. The newest checked evidence is from 7 October 2026.
Still unknown
How much US humanitarian and development aid reaches eastern Congo in dollars, and how that compares with the value of the minerals deals, is not settled by the evidence checked.
The current scale of displacement, hunger and lack of medical care in eastern Congo, and how these numbers have changed, is not established by the evidence checked.
Rwanda's role in the 1994 genocide spillover, the 1996 to 2003 wars and the current fighting, and the Lumumba and Mobutu chapters of independence, are not covered by the evidence checked.
Whether the ceasefire monitoring mechanism is working on the ground, and whether the Washington accord's commitments have been carried out, remain open questions.
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Sources
"Ces démarches administratives, habituelles en début d’année, prennent une dimension particulière dans une ville où les services bancaires sont fermés, compliquant les paiements et les transactions."
"les désignations rendues publiques, vendredi 7 août 2026, par les autorités de facto de Goma et Bukavu constituent une « ingérence grave et inacceptable »"Le Gouvernement rejette les nominations de l’AFC/M23 dans plusieurs établissements d’enseignement supérieur à Goma et Bukavu
"Les petites et moyennes entreprises ont cessé de fonctionner, laissant des milliers de Gomatraciens sans emploi."
"ces décisions n’ont aucune valeur juridique et ne peuvent produire aucun effet dans l’administration publique congolaise."Le Gouvernement rejette les nominations de l’AFC/M23 dans plusieurs établissements d’enseignement supérieur à Goma et Bukavu
"Défenseurs des droits de l'homme, acteurs de la société civile, journalistes, membres du clergé et agents de l'État ont été les premiers à prendre le chemin de l'exil pour échapper aux représailles."
"Cette invitation intervient dans un contexte où les craintes d’une éventuelle grève des professionnels de la craie pour réclamer le respect de leurs revendications auprès de l’État congolais persistent."
"global demand for “clean energy” cobalt intersects with historical extraction patterns, weak institutions, and contemporary political–economic pressures"The Dark Side of the Energy Transition: A Pressure and Release Model Analysis of Artisanal Cobalt Mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo (2026)
"so as to demonstrate that the commodification of rubber prompted the commodification of indigenous workforce, by focusing on the practices of enslavement by debt and enslavement by tax."From the Amazon to the Congo Valley: A Comparative Study on the Violent Commodification of Labour During the Rubber Boom (1870s–1910s) (2019)
"Sous Léopold II, un des rôles de la FP fut aussi de répondre à la demande des agents de l'État chargés d'assurer la rentabilité économique du territoire"Force publique
"pour atteindre les quotas de production fixés, eurent recours au travail forcé et à la chicotte ou fimbo — un fouet fait de lanières de peau d'hippopotame"Force publique
"À la demande de ces agents, la FP prenait des otages, le plus souvent des femmes, afin de forcer leur mari à travailler pour remplir les quotas de production demandés."Force publique
"Léopold II acheta aussi des esclaves à Tippu Tipp . Les esclaves, connus dès lors sous le nom de libérés , étaient libérés s’ils acceptaient de s'engager pour quatre ans dans la Force publique."Force publique
"Quelques-uns utilisèrent en effet plus le pouvoir qui leur était donné sur le territoire pour leur profit personnel que pour servir les intérêts de l'État."Force publique
"reçoit le soutien des États-Unis, de l’Union africaine et de plusieurs acteurs régionaux."Processus de Doha
"which started in January 2025 and is characterised by credible reports of atrocities against civilians and attacks against peacekeepers."Three Legal Issues on First Reading of Resolution 2773 (2025) on Eastern DRC (2025)
"En novembre 2013 , la rébellion est vaincue par une campagne conjointe de l'armée congolaise et de la MONUSCO , la force locale de maintien de la paix des Nations unies ."Processus de Doha
"However, the failure of these interventions also reflects the lingering trust deficit among the regions."Resource Sovereignty, Regional Security, and Political Economy of Violence in Eastern DRC (2026)
"The tensions that arise make it difficult to resolve conflicts due to the lack of commitment from each party to carry out the obligations that"Civil War in South Sudan: Conflict Resolution through Mediation by the African Union (2024)
"which is evident with the resurgence of M23 rebellion"Resource Sovereignty, Regional Security, and Political Economy of Violence in Eastern DRC (2026)
"a region that not only represented ideological and strategic interests, but also considerable economic assets"Cold War Battleground in Africa: American Foreign Policy and the Congo Crisis, January 1959 - January 1961 (2013)
"The company Union Miniere has been paying all royalties M and export duties on its copper an"Image 11 of Evening star (Washington, D.C.), November 25, 1962
"the big mining company In the Congos Katanga Province was going to start paying reve nues to the Congolese central government"Image 11 of Evening star (Washington, D.C.), November 25, 1962
"Lubumbashi est parfois surnommée la"
"the US obtained ¾ of its cobalt and ½ of its tantalum from Katanga in 1959"Breakfast with Mobutu: Congo, the United States and the Cold War, 1964-1981 (2012)
"L'Est ( Manono ) et le Sud ( Lubumbashi , Kolwezi ) de la province renferment de très importants gisements de cobalt , cuivre , fer , radium , uranium , et diamant ."
"the blocking of copper shipments on the Kasai River due to rebel activity"Breakfast with Mobutu: Congo, the United States and the Cold War, 1964-1981 (2012)
"Le cuivre y abonde, ainsi que l'étain."
"designed to maintain Belgian and Union Miniere de Haut Katanga’s (UMHK) dominance over the Congolese economy through negotiations over Congolese debt"Breakfast with Mobutu: Congo, the United States and the Cold War, 1964-1981 (2012)
"L'industrie minière, avec au premier rang l'Union Minière du Haut Katanga, reste largement dans les mains des entrepreneurs belges grâce aux accords économiques conclus entre la Belgique et le Congo à l'aube de l'indépendance."
"En 1967, le gouvernement congolais nationalise l' Union minière du Haut Katanga , sous le nom de Générale congolaise des minerais (GECOMIN), qui deviendra par la suite la Gécamines"
"intervention militaire de l'ONU"
"ils tiendront tête aux troupes des Nations unies de la fin de l'année 1960 jusqu'à la fin de la sécession, en janvier 1963"
"4 000 rebelles venus d' Angola occupèrent la ville de Kolwezi , le principal centre minier de la province."
"Union Miniere Is Way of Life In Kafanga Over 100000 Associated With It in Province"Image 8 of Evening star (Washington, D.C.), September 2, 1962
"After two rounds of Katanga United Nations warfare the Union Miniere du Haut Ka tanga offered to release any of its mining engineers who wanted to return to the saf"Image 8 of Evening star (Washington, D.C.), September 2, 1962
"and the enforcing of an ever increasing tax from the people, from which the government. .L self draws 50 per cent, of the profits."Image 1 of The Superior times (Superior, Wis.), February 17, 1906
"The state was placed tinner the personal sovereignty of Leopold."Image 1 of The Superior times (Superior, Wis.), February 17, 1906
"they ar? their own police and arc seldom ; pnilty of punishing th?msolves."Image 13 of Springfield weekly Republican (Springfield, Mass.), October 10, 1907
"Rubber is, of course, the main cause of the slave trade in the Congo."Image 1 of The Superior times (Superior, Wis.), February 17, 1906
"In these districts the natives are taxed exorbitant exorbitantly - ly exorbitantly and assessed by villages, instead of by. individuals."Image 13 of Springfield weekly Republican (Springfield, Mass.), October 10, 1907
"The managers of the com company - pany company have another graft: They exercise a monopoly over their district and the natives are not allowed to sell outside of the territorial bounds."Image 13 of Springfield weekly Republican (Springfield, Mass.), October 10, 1907
"The talks, held behind closed doors from August 17 to August 21, also included representatives from the United States, Qatar , Switzerland , the African Union Commission and Togo , serving as African Union mediator."DR Congo, AFC/M23 group agree on roadmap for peace negotiations after Swiss talks - France 24
"The latest round of talks, held in the Swiss Riviera town of Montreux, included representatives from Qatar, the US, Switzerland, the African Union (AU) Commission, and Togo serving as the AU mediator."DRC government, M23 rebels commit to protecting civilians, aid deliveries
"The African Union (AU) Panel of Facilitators on Wednesday called for strict respect for ceasefire commitments and continued engagement in the ongoing diplomatic peace process following consultations in Goma"AU facilitators urge ceasefire compliance, continued talks in eastern DR Congo-Xinhua
"The two sides said they had "agreed on the importance of a standardised method for reporting allegations of ceasefire violations"."DR Congo, AFC/M23 group agree on roadmap for peace negotiations after Swiss talks - France 24
"The mandates of contemporary PKOs are demanding, calling on peacekeeping personnel to separate belligerent parties, enforce ceasefire agreements, and protect the physical security of civilians."Learning to Fight Together: UN Peacekeeping Coalitions and Civilian Protection (2024)
"Both sides also pledged not to target civilians and to facilitate medical care for the wounded and sick as they noted progress on a protocol for humanitarian access and judicial protections."DRC government, M23 rebels commit to protecting civilians, aid deliveries
"A delegation of the panel held consultations in Goma earlier this week with representatives of the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC, known as MONUSCO, UN and humanitarian agencies, as well as M23, according to a statement issued by the AU."AU facilitators urge ceasefire compliance, continued talks in eastern DR Congo-Xinhua
"A first ceasefire verification mission is due in Minembwe, in DRC's South Kivu province, on Monday, according to the statement."DR Congo, AFC/M23 group agree on roadmap for peace negotiations after Swiss talks - France 24
"Using monthly data on UN PKOs from 1990 to 2019, we find that increasing operational experience within a peacekeeping coalition reduces civilian fatalities significantly."Learning to Fight Together: UN Peacekeeping Coalitions and Civilian Protection (2024)
"the parties signed a memorandum of understanding for a ceasefire monitoring mechanism that will “begin conducting surveillance, monitoring, verification, and reporting on the implementation of the permanent ceasefire between the parties”."DRC government, M23 rebels commit to protecting civilians, aid deliveries
"In a statement last week, Human Rights Watch accused the parties of blocking aid deliveries and stopping civilians from fleeing the South Kivu highlands."DRC government, M23 rebels commit to protecting civilians, aid deliveries
"Qatar has mediated talks between the DRC government and the M23 since March 2025, hosting several rounds of negotiations under what has become known as the Doha peace process."AU facilitators urge ceasefire compliance, continued talks in eastern DR Congo-Xinhua
"the Force Intervention Brigade led by Southern African Development Community states (South Africa, Tanzania and Malawi) made impact on the peacekeeping process."Peacekeeping, resource exchange and gender: The place of Monusco and force intervention brigade (2025)
"The sides had also agreed to establish a "mechanism tasked with reviewing progress and addressing challenges in implementation of obligations and commitments under the Doha Framework Agreement", it said."DR Congo, AFC/M23 group agree on roadmap for peace negotiations after Swiss talks - France 24
"While the two sides signed a United States-brokered peace agreement in December , fighting has continued, most recently reaching the highland areas of South Kivu, according to media reports."DRC government, M23 rebels commit to protecting civilians, aid deliveries
"called on mediators and facilitators to "go beyond general statements.""AU facilitators urge ceasefire compliance, continued talks in eastern DR Congo-Xinhua
"This mission was authorised in line with Security Council resolution 1674 (2006) vowed to protect civilians in armed conflict which is the current case in the eastern part of DR Congo."Peacekeeping, resource exchange and gender: The place of Monusco and force intervention brigade (2025)
"It found that while extensive progress were made politically, human casualty, and gender violence remained recurrent."Peacekeeping, resource exchange and gender: The place of Monusco and force intervention brigade (2025)
"Although significant progress has been achieved in the DR Congo since the establishment of United Nation’s peacekeeping operation, the eastern part continues to be plagued by recurrent waves of conflict, chronic humanitarian crises and serious human rights violations, including sexual and genderbased violence."Peacekeeping, resource exchange and gender: The place of Monusco and force intervention brigade (2025)
"and the hands of others cut off because they : didn't bring In rubber enough"Image 30 of The courier-journal (Louisville [Ky.]), March 12, 1905, (SECTION 4)
"Districts were taxed for quotas of food, porterage, ivory, rubber and other commodities."Haunted by the Past? Belgium's International Responsibility for the Atrocities of the Congo Free State and the Question of State Succession in Matters of International Responsibility (2023)
"Villagers were forced to spend days in the forest searching for rubber vines, to deliver food grains, or to work e.g. as woodcutters for the river steamers."Haunted by the Past? Belgium's International Responsibility for the Atrocities of the Congo Free State and the Question of State Succession in Matters of International Responsibility (2023)
"More importantly, notwithstanding the formal abolition of forced labour, a system of compulsory labour remained in place in the form of a heavy head tax that forced people to go to work on the plantations or in harvesting cotton, palm, oil and other products, or to continue collecting wild rubber."Haunted by the Past? Belgium's International Responsibility for the Atrocities of the Congo Free State and the Question of State Succession in Matters of International Responsibility (2023)
"[t]he central part of what Morel had called the ‘System’, forced labour, remained in place, applied to all kinds of work"Haunted by the Past? Belgium's International Responsibility for the Atrocities of the Congo Free State and the Question of State Succession in Matters of International Responsibility (2023)
"Le département d’Etat a salué dans un message posté sur X jeudi la signature de cet accord entre l’entreprise de construction portugaise Mota-Engil"
"Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) signé le 4 décembre 2025 par Washington et Kinshasa consacre une coopération bilatérale sur les minerais critiques, les infrastructures et la gouvernance."
"Le 4 décembre 2025, Washington a été le théâtre de la signature d’un mémorandum de défense et de sécurité entre la République démocratique du Congo et les États-Unis."
"Il prévoit notamment une réserve d’actifs stratégiques comprenant des actifs miniers, aurifères et des zones d’exploration, pour lesquels les personnes américaines disposent d’un droit de première offre."
"Le texte consulté indique que la protection des minerais critiques et des terres rares figure explicitement parmi les objectifs du partenariat. Le mémorandum ne détaille pas les mécanismes précis de cette protection"
"La lettre vise les prêts, garanties et prises de participation de la Development finance corporation (DFC), de l’Export-Import bank et d’autres instruments fédéraux."
"Le texte ne précise pas le calendrier ni le nombre de militaires concernés"
"Ce texte, prévu pour une durée de cinq ans, n’est pas juridiquement contraignant"
"Download our Conflict Minerals Reporting Template (CMRT) or Cobalt Reporting Template (CRT) to map your supply chain."What changed on www.responsiblemineralsinitiative.org/ between 2017-10-21 and 2026-10-02
"Beaucoup de mines artisanales seraient illégales, peu sûres, polluantes et feraient travailler des enfants"
"Learn about our flagship Responsible Minerals Assurance Process (RMAP) and access the standards and assessment documents."What changed on www.responsiblemineralsinitiative.org/ between 2017-10-21 and 2026-10-02
"Selon la société Trafigura , ces « creuseurs » fourniraient de 20 à 40 % du cobalt produit en RDC."
"The RMI serves as a bridge between upstream and downstream companies , facilitating accountability and transparency through third-party assessments, facility data, and reporting on minerals due diligence."What changed on www.responsiblemineralsinitiative.org/ between 2017-10-21 and 2026-10-02
"Avec une production annuelle d'environ 90 000 tonnes (2019), la RDC représente plus de la moitié de la production mondiale de cobalt"
"The RMI does not validate minerals, material or mines."What changed on www.responsiblemineralsinitiative.org/ between 2017-10-21 and 2026-10-02