Erik Prince’s Congo Trap: America’s “Security” Mask over a Mining Rush

In eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), fighting between Rwandan-backed M23 rebels and government forces has displaced hundreds of thousands of people and claimed thousands of innocent lives. Since the 1994 Rwandan genocide, the region has endured more than three decades of unbroken cycles of violence.

At the start of 2024, M23 rebels rapidly advanced across the east, seizing key towns and strategic areas. Several African states attempted mediation, but no lasting peace has been achieved.

Amid the conflict, in early March, President Félix Tshisekedi of the DRC requested U.S. “security and strategic protection” in exchange for granting Washington access to the country’s vast mineral wealth. Soon after, the United States brought Congo and Rwanda to the same table for the first time. On April 25, in Washington, the parties signed a framework agreement to respect each other’s sovereignty and draft a peace plan. (Yet, reports suggest that clashes continue, with M23 taking more villages in South Kivu province.)

This move surprised few observers. Donald Trump—long interested in critical minerals—was expected to accept Congo’s offer, given the country’s $24 billion in reserves. Almost immediately, Trump appointed his senior adviser and in-law Massad Boulos as his Africa envoy. Washington and Kinshasa began talks on mining cooperation and drafted a “roadmap for the future.”

For many Congolese, the irony was bitter: in 1961, the U.S. covertly backed the assassination of Congo’s independence hero Patrice Lumumba. Today, America returns—this time invited by Congo’s own president, in the name of “peace.”

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From Blackwater to Frontier: Mining under the Security Mask

While international headlines are muted, Congolese activists argue that the U.S. has been behind many of the events since the conflict reignited. The reason is clear: the richest deposits of the world’s most sought-after critical minerals lie precisely where the fighting rages. Nearly 70% of global cobalt reserves are in Congo.

To believe that Washington only became interested in Congo’s multi-billion-dollar deposits because of the latest clashes—or Tshisekedi’s invitation—stretches credulity.

Even more telling is who is being tasked with securing the mines: Erik Prince, the former Navy SEAL who founded the infamous private military firm Blackwater.

Blackwater contractors gained notoriety in Iraq and Afghanistan after 9/11 for massacres of civilians—atrocities for which many were later pardoned under Trump. Prince also helped the UAE build a foreign legion and attempted to create a private air force for South Sudan’s repressive regime.

Afterward, Prince became chairman of Frontier Services Group, a Hong Kong–based security and logistics company backed by China’s state-owned Citic Group. On one occasion, Prince openly declared that Africa and Latin America needed to be “recolonized,” dismissing African leaders as unfit to govern their countries.

When profits are at stake, America’s mercenaries and China’s builders sometimes find pragmatic alignment. Prince himself once admitted:

“Africa remains the most underdeveloped region in the world, and I think China promises a lot in Africa. But the problem is, if you go in alone, you bear the country risk alone. You need support and sustainment there.”

Frontier Services Group has held security contracts in Somalia, invested in Guinea’s bauxite sector, and in 2020 received licenses in Congo to operate both mining and security ventures. In a 2019 interview with the Financial Times, Prince revealed his plan to raise $500 million for mining ventures supplying electric-vehicle minerals. Reports also link him to a copper project in Congo as early as 2015.

Prince has been operating in Congo for years through joint ventures and shell companies. The question now is: what has changed?

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Washington’s New Strategy: Cutting Out China

Today, nearly 70% of Congo’s mining is dominated by China, which not only extracts but also dictates global pricing. In 2008, Kinshasa struck the “Sicomines” deal—trading mineral rights for Chinese-built roads and hospitals. Yet many Congolese criticize the deal for delivering little local benefit.

Now, weary of Chinese dominance, Congo is edging closer to Washington. The U.S. in turn seeks a mining supply chain free from Chinese influence. Unlike in the past, America no longer relies on UN missions, NGOs, or African armies. Instead, it wants to directly secure raw materials as a foundation for its technological supremacy.

Meanwhile, Russia is also expanding its footprint, with Wagner mercenaries trading military support for mining concessions in Central Africa. The U.S. Congo push, then, is not just anti-China but also a move to counter Moscow.

In this new era, critical minerals are no longer mere commodities—they are weapons in a geopolitical race. To control them is to control the future of defense, technology, and energy.

It is no coincidence that figures like Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos have also turned to Congo and its neighbors. Their venture, KoBold Metals, recently used AI to discover one of the largest copper deposits in Zambia’s Mingomba region, right along the Congolese border. The find was announced just as Washington and Kinshasa finalized their “minerals-for-security” pact. KoBold’s billion-dollar investment appears to form the private-sector leg of America’s critical-minerals strategy.

Global Competition, Local Consequences

According to the deal, America will provide “security” in eastern Congo. But the real aim is clear: to ensure the steady flow of Congo’s minerals to the United States. In today’s world, whoever controls the mines controls the future.

But what about the millions of Congolese forced to dig with bare hands, without masks or protection? What about the children working in pits, or the mothers who lose pregnancies from toxic exposure?

In previous projects, security firms protected corporate profits, not local workers. Why should Erik Prince’s promises of “legality” mean anything different this time?

When the militias’ guns fall silent, will Congolese communities not remain enslaved—this time by new masters with polished contracts, but equally ruthless methods?

For 150 years, Congo has lived the same story. The actors change, but the exploitation—and the people’s suffering—remains the same.

 

This article was originally published in Independent Türkçe, on May 7,2025.

https://www.indyturk.com/node/758114/t%C3%BCrki%CC%87yeden-sesler/erik-princein-kongo-tuza%C4%9F%C4%B1-abdnin-g%C3%BCvenlik-maskeli-maden-ya%C4%9Fmas%C4%B1