DRC and U.S. Sign Strategic Partnership for Critical Mineral Supply Chains

The Democratic Republic of Congo and the United States signed a strategic partnership agreement on December 4, 2025, that calls for increased economic cooperation, investment and development of secure critical-mineral supply chains, Fox News reported.

Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner said in an interview at the United Nations that the DRC does not view growing American involvement as a contest with China. "I don’t like talking about competition.

I like talking about complementarity," she said. She added that large countries develop through multiple partnerships that respond to different needs and bring different expertise. A separate arrangement between DRC state mining company Gécamines and commodities trader Mercuria could give U.S.

Buyers priority access to some copper and cobalt supplies, Reuters reported on December 5, 2025. The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation expressed interest in taking a strategic stake in the partnership.

Kayikwamba Wagner said relations between the U.S. and DR Congo were taking "a more concrete shape" based on mutual economic interests. She said Kinshasa welcomed more U.S. interests that could turn mineral wealth into tangible transformations for Congolese lives.

The minerals agreement accompanied a broader regional framework. DRC and Rwanda initially signed a peace agreement in Washington on June 27, 2025. Presidents Félix Tshisekedi and Paul Kagame reaffirmed the deal and signed related economic agreements on December 4.

Kayikwamba Wagner said the 30-year conflict would not end overnight. The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned the Rwanda Defense Force and senior Rwandan officials over their support for the M23 rebel group, stating that the force had supported, trained and fought alongside M23 as it seized territory and strategic mining locations in eastern Congo.