The U.S. brokered a peace agreement between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda after a draft was signed on April 25 in Washington.
The deal would include separate mineral agreements with the US, potentially worth billions, to enhance investment in the region’s mineral resources like tantalum, gold, copper, cobalt, and lithium.
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Both nations agreed to stop supporting armed groups like M23, which has controlled parts of eastern DRC, including Goma, since 2022.
The conflict, which escalated in 2022, has roots in continuous pressures from the 1994 Rwandan genocide. During this time, Hutu militias fled to Congo and formed groups such as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).
Rwanda, which has been accused by the United Nations and Western governments of supporting M23—a Tutsi-led rebel group—denies these claims, asserting that its actions are in self-defense against the Congolese army and FDLR militias.
The violence has displaced over 7 million people within the DRC, with 86,000 fleeing to neighboring countries since January 2025, according to UNHCR reports.
The agreement corresponds with U.S. efforts to invest billions in Congo’s mineral sector, which contains 70% of global cobalt reserves essential for electric vehicle batteries, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
