Congo plans to present Washington with a catalog of mining opportunities this week as the central African nation moves forward with a December partnership agreement designed to attract American capital to its resource sector.
Louis Watum, the country’s mines minister, disclosed the timeline during remarks on Wednesday at the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh, speaking six weeks after both governments formalized their strategic arrangement.
“We are sending this week to the US a list of strategic projects where the US can invest,” Watum told attendees. “It’s going to be, strictly speaking, a commercial discussion. It’s not going to be like we are giving it for free, not at all.”
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The initiative builds on the December 4 Washington Accords, an arrangement that positions US corporations ahead of competitors in accessing Congo’s copper, cobalt, lithium and tantalum deposits. President Donald Trump has prioritized securing mineral supplies for electric vehicles, military hardware and advanced technologies as Washington works to reduce its reliance on Chinese supply chains.
Chinese firms operate 15 of Congo’s 19 copper-cobalt operations and command 80% of the country’s cobalt output, according to mining industry reports. The African nation supplies more than 70% of global cobalt demand.
The US International Development Finance Corporation is negotiating $1 billion in backing for two initiatives: a copper-cobalt trading partnership between state-owned Gecamines and Swiss commodity trader Mercuria Energy Trading, plus rail infrastructure that would link Congo to Atlantic shipping routes through Angola.
American mining interests have already established a foothold. KoBold Metals, which counts Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos among its investors, obtained seven permits in August 2025 to explore for lithium near the Manono deposit in Congo’s southeastern region.
The bilateral agreement requires Congo to redirect mineral exports westward via Angola’s Lobito rail line instead of routing shipments through southern and eastern corridors as it has historically done.
Washington has also pledged to assist with peace negotiations in eastern Congo, where armed conflict persists despite a July truce between government forces and M23 insurgents.
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