A new scramble for Africa is unfolding, as the imperialists jostle for the natural resources necessary to manufacture cutting-edge technology. It is through this lens that we must analyze the recent “declaration of principles for peace” between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda, brokered by the US.
The deal is a poisoned olive branch. High-sounding talk about Trump’s “prosperity agenda for the world” is a thin veil, behind which lay the naked interests of American imperialism.
As Secretary of State Marco Rubio made clear, “Peace . . . will open the door for greater US and broader Western investment.” In short, Trump and Rubio hope to make it “safe” for Western capital to exploit Congolese labor and raw materials.
Imperialist hunger for mineral wealth
It’s the sixth ceasefire agreement in the last four years. The DRC and Rwanda have been mired in bloody conflict since 1996. Millions have been killed and displaced in the fighting—involving more than 120 armed groups fueled by imperialist hunger for the eastern Congo’s enormous mineral wealth.
Earlier this year, the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group captured the eastern Congolese cities of Goma and Bukavu. This violent instability threatens American capital’s access to minerals and precious metals like gold, coltan, and cobalt.
In response to Trump’s tariffs, China imposed export restrictions on rare-earth minerals, leaving the American imperialists scrambling to secure new sources. Rwanda is the planet’s largest exporter of coltan—used to produce tantalum capacitors for cellphones and computers—with 90% of its supply coming from mines in eastern Congo.
For its part, the DRC supplies 80% of the world’s cobalt. Chinese firms and state-owned banks control 80% of Congolese cobalt mining output. The Chinese imperialists transport, refine, and employ it in their domestic industry.
This vertically-integrated supply chain for producing EVs, smartphones, and other battery-powered electronics is a key pillar of China’s manufacturing dominance. Trump and Rubio’s so-called “peace” deal aims to challenge this dominance by securing a bigger share of Congo’s minerals for American capitalists.
Artisanal mining
What makes this region so enticing to the imperialists? Despite being illegal in the DRC, “artisanal mining” is widespread. Workers dig with pickaxes, shovels, stretches of rebar, or their bare hands in massive pits controlled by local gangs or militias. Far from the reach of the law, indentured servitude and child labor are common. Since it involves no heavy machinery and wages are hideously low, foreign capitalists can make massive profits on these minerals with relatively little investment.
Always willing to turn a blind eye, the imperialists are forced by market competition to rely on this disgusting practice for their raw materials. They can’t afford to let morality obstruct the flow of profit. Likewise, African bourgeois governments are content to allow imperialist hyperexploitation—so long as some scraps are sent their way.
Another front in the trade war
Economic warfare between China and the US did not begin with Trump. Obama implemented protectionist measures against China, which Trump intensified in his first term.
Biden took up the mantle of his predecessors. Just before leaving office, the lame-duck president took a trip to Angola to negotiate investment deals—including pledges of over a billion dollars for the Lobito Trans-Africa Corridor railway. This infrastructure is vital for hauling minerals from inland mines to the coast for transport to Western markets.
Rubio described the peace deal as a “win-win” for Rwanda and the DRC. But we can be sure that workers in Africa—and the whole world—will lose. Neither African nor American workers will see any of Trump’s promised “prosperity.”
The struggle of warmongering imperialists in Africa will only benefit the owners of mines, ports, refineries, and manufacturing plants. Peace can only be won when the blind drive for profit is replaced by an international democratic plan of production.