Democratic Republic of Congo: The imperialist race for raw materials is the real driving force behind the war in Kivu

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Democratic Republic of Congo: The imperialist race for raw materials is the real driving force behind the war in Kivu

On January 26, 2025, after a four-day lightning offensive, the March 23 Movement (M23) and Rwandan troops entered Goma, capital of the eastern province of North Kivu, bordering Uganda and Rwanda. A few weeks later, on February 16, Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu, fell to the rebels. The images went round the world, contrasting with the silence traditionally observed by the Western media on this part of the globe, and caused panic not only among the civilian population and regular troops fleeing the two towns en masse, but also among Western chancelleries and that “den of brigands” (Lenin) known as the United Nations. On February 21, 2025, the UN Security Council, which brings together the major imperialist powers and is the only entity with real power within the United Nations, adopted a resolution calling on the M23 to cease its offensive and asking the Rwandan army to withdraw its troops and stop supporting the M23 rebellion. According to a UN report dated July 2024, 3,000 to 4,000 soldiers from Kagame's regime were fighting directly in the DRC. Rwanda's presence illustrates once again the grim reality that the Democratic Republic of Congo is no more than a playground for the great imperialist powers and the regional bourgeoisies.

This geopolitical sequence has a lingering sense of déjà vu. Back in 1998, during the so-called Second Congo War (1998-2003), the two regional capitals fell into the hands of rebel groups, notably the “Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie” (RCD), already backed by Rwanda and Uganda. The aim was to overthrow President Laurent-Désiré Kabila, who had himself come to power as part of a rebellion that had overthrown the pro-Western dictator Mobutu, and was supported by Rwanda and Uganda (!). These sudden reversals of alliances can only come as a surprise to naive idealists who believe that states are fighting for ideals such as “democracy”, “freedom” and “the right of peoples to self-determination”. In reality, in the capitalist mode of production, and a fortiori in the era of imperialism, states are guided solely by the need to conquer new markets at the expense of their rivals, in order to obtain outlets for overproduction, raw materials and a workforce that can be cut and chopped at will. This is the capitalism “sweating blood and mud from every pore” that Marx refers to in his famous passage on the primitive accumulation of capital.

Since 1998, the civil war in Congo between government forces and rebel forces backed by Rwanda has never ceased. In 2004, just one year after the official end of the Second Congo War, a new rebel group was formed in North Kivu province from the pro-Rwandan faction of the RCD, around the figure of Laurent Nkunda. From 2006, this group became known as the “Congrès national pour la défense du peuple” (CNDP). Claiming to defend the Tutsi population, who had taken refuge in the region since the genocide of a million Tutsis in Rwanda by the Hutu majority in 1994, this rebel group sought above all to replace the power of President Joseph Kabila and to engage in the extraction and commercialization of the province's rich natural resources. A first peace agreement was finally signed between the Congolese authorities and the CNDP on March 23, 2009. Under the terms of this agreement, the group agreed to disband in exchange for the integration of its members into the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC). But peace in capitalism, and this is true of major global conflicts as well as local ones, is never more than an interlude between two periods of war. In 2012, former members of the CNDP, dissatisfied with their conditions in the FARDC, once again entered the rebellion, giving birth to the M23. It is this group that is making headlines today. Like the RCD in 1998, and the CNDP between 2006 and 2009, the M23 seized Goma and a large part of North Kivu, prompting even then the intervention of the “international community” (read: the major imperialists), anxious to maintain a semblance of stability. In November 2013, the rebellion was defeated in a joint campaign by the FARDC and the local UN mission, MONUSCO. The M23 was dismantled and its fighters disarmed and transferred to refugee camps in Rwanda and Uganda. In November 2021, the M23 took up arms again in North Kivu and, in March 2022, launched an offensive against the FARDC and MONUSCO. Supported by Kigali, the M23 scored a series of decisive successes and extended its hold over North Kivu. A ceasefire was negotiated in August 2024, but only lasted a few months, with the M23 offensive resuming in December 2024. The capture of Goma and then Bukavu is only the latest stage in this long military sequence, in which peace agreements and ceasefires merely pave the way for new outbreaks of conflict. Let's bet that the ceasefire negotiations begun on March 18, 2025 will meet the same inglorious end as their predecessors (1).

A RUMP STATE, EASY PREY FOR THE GREAT IMPERIALIST POWERS AND REGIONAL BOURGEOISIE

The Congolese state, like many post-independence African states, is a rump state, extremely weak and divided between several corrupt and predatory bourgeois rival factions, not hesitating to collaborate locally with rebel groups to serve their own particular interests. Today, the Congolese bourgeoisie is divided between supporters of incumbent president Félix Tshisekedi and the Kabila clan, grouped around former president Joseph Kabila. The figure of Vital Kamerhe is a paroxysmal illustration of this corruption of local elites. President of the National Assembly under Kabila and then again since 2024 under Tshisekedi, he was sentenced to 20 years' hard labor, 10 years' ineligibility and a ban on holding public office, for “embezzlement, aggravated corruption and money laundering”, by the Kinshasa High Court in 2020, a decision overturned in 2022 (2).

This weakness of the Congolese state leaves the field wide open to foreign powers, whether regional or imperialist. The Congolese army, unable to meet the challenge of the rebellion, is forced to rely on allied armies, or even mercenary troops. In addition to MONUSCO, which was present in the country until 2024 and to which nearly 60 countries contributed, the Southern African Development Community Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, comprising South African, Malawian and Tanzanian troops, has just begun (March 2025) to withdraw its troops. But the Congolese government relies mainly on “private security” companies - in reality, mercenaries - based in Europe, such as Agemira, a Franco-Bulgarian company, and Ralf, a Franco-Romanian company. These companies, mainly made up of Romanian mercenaries, are supposed to advise the FARDC, train local troops, negotiate arms contracts and defend strategic areas. However, their presence was unable to prevent the rebels from taking Goma, and in January 2025, they had to be repatriated to Romania (3).

This state of general decomposition of the Congolese army and state is a godsend for the major imperialist powers and regional bourgeoisies, who are establishing their traditional hunting grounds in the rich Congolese territory, and more widely across the African continent. At the forefront of the imperialist sharks is France, which is having a hard time admitting the decline of “Françafrique” (4). French imperialism plays a particularly murky role in this conflict. Officially, France is a diplomatic ally of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Its army collaborates with the FARDC, notably by providing military training. Training takes place in Gabon and the DRC, notably at the Kibomango camp and the Kitona non-commissioned officer school, with around 50 French soldiers involved. France is also contributing to the modernization of the FARDC by supporting the creation of the École de Guerre and via cooperation agreements signed since 2019. In addition, the French company Themiis has been training senior FARDC and Congolese police officers for the past nine years (5). In apparent proof of this France-DRC solidarity, the French embassy in the country even issued a statement in which “France firmly condemns the M23 offensive supported by Rwanda in South Kivu towards Bukavu, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). [...] France reaffirms its solidarity with the Democratic Republic of Congo and its unfailing attachment to its territorial integrity and sovereignty. It calls for the immediate withdrawal of Rwandan forces from the territory of the Democratic Republic of Congo (6).” This condemnation, for show, is in fact quite timid. Nor does it delude us. Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot (a representative of the former colonial power, which still has major interests in Congo) spoke of “the reluctance expressed behind the scenes in France” at the idea of sanctioning Rwanda (7). In reality, these positions only serve to conceal a real proximity of interests between France and Rwanda, as we showed in 2021 when, on the occasion of a speech acknowledging France's “crushing responsibility” in the Rwandan genocide, France and Rwanda were spectacularly reconciled in defense of imperialist interests (8). So, despite the rhetoric calling for an end to the conflict, France did not stop its military aid to Rwanda, and even pushed the European Union to provide aid to Rwanda, officially intended to fight “terrorism”. In reality, this aid consisted of supporting the dispatch of Rwandan soldiers to Mozambique to secure a gigantic project of the French hydrocarbon flagship Total, threatened by the advance of jihadists. On March 24, 2021, Total's mega-project to build a liquefied gas production site worth almost 20 billion euros near Palma, in the north of the country, was raided by an armed group claiming to be part of the Islamic State, forcing the company to stop work and repatriate its personnel. A few days later, Rwanda announced that it was sending an expeditionary force of 1,000 soldiers to the region, despite initial reservations on the part of the Mozambican government. The result: by August 9, the Rwandan army had managed to regain control of the site and establish a 50 km-long security zone around the project. A fine demonstration of the solidarity between yesterday's enemies in defence of the interests of French imperialism. Since then, the European Union has certainly sanctioned Rwandan generals and M23 leaders, but to date it has suspended neither the agreement with this country on “critical raw materials” (in fact, for the supply of Congolese raw materials to major European companies) nor aid to its armies.

The French state is not only discreetly supporting the Rwandan state, it is also allowing mining consultancy companies directly owned by the M23 to flourish on French soil. This was revealed only a few days ago by the investigative media Off Investigation. The company in question is called Kingston Holding, headed by M23 spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka and based in Paris. While the real nature of the company's business is unknown, as it has not declared any balance sheet since its foundation - which is an offence under French business law - it is likely that the company is seeking to attract Western investors to exploit the “blood minerals” in the hands of the M23. However, to date, no proceedings have been taken against the company by the French tax authorities, leading the investigative media to ask the uncomfortable question: “In the case of Kanyuka, would we have left alone a rebel who, geopolitically, is more in our interests?” And to answer, “For some Congolese, the case has already been made. On January 28, the French embassy in Kinshasa (capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo) was attacked by demonstrators, who reproached our country for its passivity while the M23 was making the sounds of its boots in Goma, the largest city in the east of the DRC (9)”.

The Congo's misfortune is that it's too rich... in resources: precious woods, coffee, the energy capacity of the Congo River, ivory, rubber, diamonds, gold, uranium, gas and oil, bauxite, lead, iron, manganese, tungsten, zinc, nickel, silver, copper, cobalt... the list goes on. Kivu itself is rich in minerals and gas. That's why the former Belgian Congo has always been the envy of the imperialist powers. Some of these minerals are needed for high-tech industries. Coltan, for example, is used in the manufacture of energy-storing, heat-resistant capacitors, and is found in consumer goods such as cell phones and computers, GPS systems and plasma TVs, as well as in the aerospace (satellites) and weapons (missiles) sectors. Cobalt is used to manufacture batteries for telephones and electric cars. In 2023, Congolese mines produced the equivalent of over $3 billion worth of copper and cobalt (10). All this wealth is exploited by the multinationals of the imperialist powers. This is particularly true of Swiss commodities giant Glencore, which is mining cobalt alongside its Chinese rivals. Of course, this extractivist economy is characterized by extensive use of corrupt practices. In 2024, the Swiss Public Prosecutor's Office fined Glencore $152 million for corruption, after it paid bribes to acquire mining rights in the DRC. According to Public Eye, the media organization behind the revelation of the affair, “Glencore used the services of Israeli businessman Dan Gertler, close to Kabila's government, to conclude three highly profitable mining agreements (11)” in copper and cobalt mines. In exchange for renegotiating agreements with the Congolese government, which would have deprived the Congolese state of nearly a billion dollars in revenue, Gertler was rewarded by the acquisition of shares in the Congolese state-owned mining company at a price well below their value. According to investigations by the Public Prosecutor's Office, nearly $26 million was paid to Dan Gertler via Swiss bank accounts. Of this $26 million, $10 million was paid in cash to a high-ranking Congolese official. The investigation confirms that Glencore derived a clear economic advantage (12). But the Swiss giant is not the only one to exploit Congolese mining resources. Raw ore is exported to China, where it is refined. And these raw materials are used on a massive scale by some of the biggest Western multinationals: Alcatel, Ericsson, Bayer, Bolloré, Intel, Hewlett Packard, Philips, Acer, Dell, Apple, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia, Panasonic, IBM, Sony, Samsung, Toshiba, Lenovo, Canon, Nikon, Nintendo, as well as numerous arms manufacturers.

Regional powers are not to be outdone either, and Rwanda's profits from the exploitation of the DRC's resources will help us to better understand its support for the rebellion. Rwanda has long been involved in coltan smuggling through various militias. In June 2018, a UN panel of experts reported to the Security Council that “much of the gold sold by Uganda and Rwanda is illicitly mined in neighboring countries [i.e. Congo]”. Today, Rwanda serves as a transit country for the “blood minerals” extracted by a proletariat reduced to slavery in Congolese mines controlled by rebel groups such as the M23. In the spring of 2024, for example, the M23 seized the Rubaya mine, the country's largest coltan deposit, accounting for between 15% and 30% of global production (13). Other countries in the region, such as Tanzania, Burundi and Angola, are also taking part in the plundering of Congolese resources, while South Africa, in addition to its mining interests in the region, is particularly interested in the electricity that could be generated by a gigantic dam built on the Congo River (14).

CIVILIANS, ESPECIALLY PROLETARIANS, ARE THE MAIN VICTIMS OF MINING INDUSTRY AND WARFARE

Back in 1996, we wrote: “While some of the wealth extracted from Zaire was used to enrich Mobutu and his clique, most of it went into the coffers of Western capitalists. And the local population benefited in no way. On the contrary, the ever-increasing integration of Zaire into the world market, and the development of local capitalism, however moronic, have had devastating consequences for the masses: misery, famine, disease and inter-ethnic clashes have accompanied oppression, exploitation and looting (15)”. In the “mines of death”, in the hands of the warlords, forced labour is commonplace, accompanied by massacres and rapes (500,000 women and girls over nearly three decades). It is estimated that 20% of mining is carried out by hand, by 110,000 to 150,000 miners working with rudimentary tools and no protection whatsoever. In the mines in the south of the country, some 40,000 children extract the resources, at the cost of numerous fatal workplace accidents and illnesses linked to the consumption of non-potable water, such as cholera and diarrhoea. Of course, exploitation is not confined to the “mines of death” operated by the rebels: in the mines operated by Glencore, conditions akin to slavery have been denounced by workers (16).

So far, we haven't even mentioned the atrocities committed against civilians in the course of this war. Yet they are countless: summary executions, torture, rape, looting. In all, several million people have died and just as many have been exiled. While these populations are fleeing the abuses of rebel groups, responsible in particular for the summary executions of children in Bukavu (17), they are not being treated any better by the regular troops. In February 2025, just as rebel troops were advancing towards South Kivu, the governor of this state put 84 soldiers on trial for acts of murder, torture, rape and pillaging. These soldiers are said to have killed at least nine people in the north of Bukavu (18). While all armies regularly commit such acts against civilians - and supposedly civilized armies are no exception - this violence is facilitated by a general climate of decay within the Congolese army. MONUSCO's “blue helmets” are similarly accused by local residents in North Kivu of having caused the death of civilians in indiscriminate bombardments. Demonstrations have been held against the peacekeepers, who are also accused of sexual abuses (19).

The proletarians of Congo are in a particularly difficult situation; the ethnic and geographical divisions in this immense country, and the absence of a tradition of workers' struggles (as in South Africa, for example) are all obstacles that will be difficult to overcome, for the emergence of a proletarian struggle capable of leading the disinherited masses against capitalism. The class struggle of proletarians in imperialist metropolises and African capitalist countries will be a key factor in this. The real solidarity that the proletarians of Congo - like those of all the former colonized countries - are entitled to expect is not humanitarian in nature, but classist: the struggle against imperialist plunder, if it is not to remain an empty slogan, must be embodied in the resumption of the anti-capitalist class struggle in the major imperialist countries. Then, by uniting the proletarians of the “dominated” and “dominating” countries in international revolution, it will possible to crush world capitalism and pave the way for communist society across the globe.

(1) https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2025/03/19/guerre-en-rdc-rencontre-surprise-entre-les-presidents-tshisekedi-et-kagame-a-doha-un-cessez-le-feu-evoque_6583471_3212.html

(2) https://www.rfi.fr/fr/afrique/20220411-rdc-la-cour-de-cassation-annule-la-condamnation-%C3%A0-13-ans-de-prison-de-vital-kamerhe

(5) https://lignesdedefense.ouest-france.fr/republique-democratique-du-congo-les-coups-de-pouce-francais-aux-fardc-actualise/

(6) https://cd.ambafrance.org/Declaration-Condamnation-de-l-offensive-du-M23-dans-le-Sud-Kivu

(7) https://www.off-investigation.fr/republique-democratique-congo-france-et-minerais-de-sang/

(9) https://www.off-investigation.fr/republique-democratique-congo-france-et-minerais-de-sang/

(10) https://www.publiceye.ch/fr/thematiques/negoce-de-matieres-premieres/glencore-condamnee-pour-corruption-en-rdc-des-suites-de-la-denonciation-penale-de-public-eye

(13) https://www.off-investigation.fr/republique-democratique-congo-france-et-minerais-de-sang/

(15) «Affrontements bourgeois et appétits impérialistes au Zaïre», Le Prolétaire n°438 (oct.-nov.-déc. 1996).

(17) https://www.france24.com/fr/%C3%A9missions/journal-de-l-afrique/20250219-r%C3%A9publique-d%C3%A9mocratique-du-congo-exactions-du-m23-contre-des-enfants

(18) https://www.afrik.com/rdc-84-militaires-des-fardc-juges-pour-meurtres-et-exactions-au-sud-kivu

(19) https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature/2024/09/24/drc-beni-region-departing-un-monusco-peacekeepers-leave-trail-abuse-anger

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