Africa’s minerals are being bartered for security: Why it’s a bad idea

A pile of rare earth minerals. Amid rising global interest in critical minerals, African states must recognise their resources' strategic value.

Photo credit: Shutterstock

A US-brokered peace deal between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda binds the two African nations to a worrying arrangement: one where a country signs away its mineral resources to a superpower in return for opaque assurances of security.

The peace deal, signed in June 2025, aims to end three decades of conflict between the DRC and Rwanda.