How Trump wants US companies to cash in

The Trump administration leads an ambitious, but controversial initiative, aimed at ending the long -term conflict in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, which also attracted in the neighboring Rwanda.

The mediation efforts are not a surprise, as Dr. Kongo – a nation in the heart of Africa – gives the mineral wealth that the United States requires to operate information technology, now artificial intelligence, revolutions, most of which are currently going to China.

US President Donald Trump is expected to host the leaders of Dr. Congo and Rwanda – Felix Chesikde and Paul Kagame – in the coming weeks to create a peace agreement that he praised as a “glorious victory”, in the hope of his support with the deals that will enhance American investment in the region.

The CEO of the World Peace Corporation in the United States told Professor Alex Di and BBC that the Trump administration was promoting “a new model of peace making, combining popular performance and making commercial deals.”

“Trump has done this in Ukraine as well. He wants to get glory to enhance his political position, and to secure the minerals that are in America’s interests,” said Professor De Wal.

However, he indicated that “in Dr. Congo, China has already picked up many minerals until the United States plays caught.”

He said that American companies have so far been cautious about investing in Dr. Congo due to safety and “moral risks” of dealing with the so -called “doll metals” – mineral rebellion – but this may change with the Trump administration application to the peace model.

Professor D. Wall said that this could also happen in other states that are hit by the conflict, such as Sudan, as the Trump administration – alongside Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt – was expected to participate in mediation efforts after the failure of previous initiatives.

He added that the Trump administration’s peace model cannot be expelled from control, especially if the fighting that killed thousands of people stop and explain millions of others in conflicts that erupted more than 30 years ago in the eastern Congo.

“Trump can get the various aspects of speaking, and shake things,” said Professor D Wal.

But Professor Hanry Mustard, an academic in the Cape Town University Law, South Africa, told BBC to Dr. Kongo, “He risks sovereignty over its minerals.”

She said that the Congo can find himself closed in deals for years, in exchange for mysterious guarantees of security.

Professor Mustard added that this reminded us of the “resource distribution” deals that China and Russia follow in many African countries.

It was martyred as Angola, as China built the infrastructure against oil.

“Even when oil prices rose, Angola was unable to obtain more value,” said Professor Mustard.

The US State Department said in 2023 Dr. Congo had an estimated 25trn (21.2 pounds) in metal reserves.

This included cobalt, copper, lithium, manganese and tantalum – necessary to make electronic components used in computers, electric cars, mobile phones, wind turbines and military devices.

“How long will Dr. Congo give cobalt to American investors? Will it be 20 years or 50 years? What is the price of peace?” Professor Mustard requested.

A spokesman for the government of Dr. Congo Patrick Moyaya confirmed to the British Broadcasting Authority in March that his country wanted to provide the United States with “some critical minerals” in exchange for a security agreement.

The M23 Rebel group launched a major attack early this year, seized huge areas of the Eastern Congo and mineral smuggling across the border to Rwanda, UN experts said in a report earlier this month.

UN experts added that the minerals were then mixed with the production of the Rwandans, and “their subsequent export reached the effective actors to unprecedented levels.”

Rwanda denies accusations that it supports the M23, although the United Nations has provided evidence that it has thousands of soldiers in Dr Congo.

It seems that it is an attempt to address the issue of mineral smuggling, the peace agreement in which the United States between Dr. Kongo and Rwanda has been brought in a “regional economic integration framework” that is still negotiating between the two competing countries.

This would “guarantee the prohibition of illegal economic paths” and “useful partnerships for both parties and investment opportunities” that were created for “greater prosperity – especially for the residents of the region.”

Trump said before A peace deal signed by government representatives on June 27 in Washington.

“The US initiative was heading alongside another one led by Qatar, a ally of us.

Mr. Felst said that the concentration of the United States was mainly on the regional dimension, while Qatar was on local issues between the government of Dr. Kongo and the M23 rebel group that established its own administration in the east after the seizure of the regional capital, Juma.

Professor Jason Sterins, a Canada -based political world specializing in the region, told the BBC that Qatar, like the oil -rich Gulf states, was expanding to Africa “to rid power and influence, but also to discuss economic opportunities.”

He added that he became involved in mediation efforts at the request of Rwanda, who considered the United States in support of Dr. Kongo, which Washington denies.

Professor Sterins said that Qatar had “huge” economic interests in Rwanda, noting that the Gulf state was building a new airport in billions of dollars in Kigali and was holding talks to obtain a 49 % stake in the national airline.

He explained that the United States and Qatar are working closely together, but it was ideal that you have two operations because “you do not want to end in a position where there is a peace deal between Dr. Kongo and Rwanda, but Rwanda says:” We do not control M23, and the M23 continues to escalate [the conflict] In the eastern Congo d.

“It is very important that the two operations are closely related to each other because the actors are closely related,” added Professor Steers.

Under the peace agreement, Dr. Kongo and Rwanda agreed to launch a “security coordination mechanism” within 30 days of the June 27 deal.

Mr. Felst said that the ceasefire is expected to be in effect on Tuesday, followed by the government of Dr. Congo and the signing of M23 on a comprehensive peace agreement by August 18, based on the “Declaration of Principles” that they have already negotiated.

ICG Oresphore Seatumba said that the United States and Qatar are dealing with deals in “record time” since Trump climbed to the US presidency in January.

Mr. Seemtumba said that their intervention came after many of the mediation efforts led by Africa have failed to make the parties sign up to one document “since 2022.

“Regional players do not have the same financial lever to influence Kigali and Kinshasa,” he added.

“But between the signing of an agreement and the achievement of peace, the road could be long, and it will be long in this case,” Mr. Seemtumba warned.

One of the main questions is whether the M23 will abandon the territory subject to its control, according to the TSHISECEDI government.

Mr. Semtumba said that M23 has agreed to the “state authority” that was created through Dr. Kongo, however, the rebels also said that they would not abandon a “one centimeter” from the ground.

“Personally, I think the transition should be gradual, and for some areas, there must be a kind of joint management. But everything will depend on the ingenuity of the mediators and their ability to break the ice.”

He said that the success of the Peace Initiative also depends on what the agreement called “raising defensive measures” by Rwanda, which was widely interpreted as means that its forces withdraw from the east of the Congo.

While Rwanda denies the support of M23, she says she wants to wipe the FDLR, a militia born from those who carried out genocide in 1994 in Rwanda and then fled to Dr. Congo. Rwanda accused the Congolese army of working with FDLR.

The peace deal is spent that FDLR should be “neutralized”, but this has been tried several times over the past three decades.

“For Rwanda, the neutralization of FDLR is a prerequisite for withdrawing its forces, while Dr. Kongo says that two should be achieved simultaneously,” said Mr. Seastumba, saying that the brokers will have to find a solution because these issues have led to the failure of previous peace initiatives.

“Only by following the various interpretations provided by the parties in the signed texts, you can feel all the difficulties awaiting us,” said Mr. Seemumba.

Professor Mostert agreed that diplomacy on its own cannot achieve peace, and a wider initiative is needed.

She said: “You build peace by transforming pain. This requires more diplomacy. It takes dialogue, decentralization and people’s experiences.”

Professor Mustard added: “For this reason, I think it is important for deals and legislators to remain aware of historical trauma, including contracts for exploitation of resources.”

So if he wants to keep peace for a long time enough for American companies, Donald Trump may have to continue to pressure for some time.