M23: How a local armed rebel group in the DRC is altering the global mining sector
In recent weeks, North Kivu, a province in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has seen over 135,000 displacements in what has become the latest upsurge in a resurging conflict between the Congolese army and armed rebel groups. The indiscriminate bombing in the region puts an extra strain on the already-lacking humanitarian infrastructure in North Kivu, which thus far harbours approximately 2.5 million forcibly displaced people.
The March 23 Movement, or M23, is an armed rebel group that is threatening to take the strategic town of Sake, which is located a mere 27 kilometres west of North Kivu’s capital, Goma, a city of around two million people. In 2023, M23 became the most active non-state large actor in the DRC. Further advances will exacerbate regional humanitarian needs and could push millions more into displacement.
The role of minerals
Eastern Congo is a region that has been plagued with armed violence and mass killings for decades. Over 120 armed groups scramble for access to land, resources, and power. Central to the region, as well as the M23 conflict, is the DRC’s mining industry, which holds untapped deposits of raw minerals–estimated to be worth upwards of US$24 trillion. The recent increase in armed conflict in the region is likely to worsen the production output of the DRC’s mining sector, which accounts for 30 per cent of the country’s GDP and about 98 per cent of the country’s total exports.
The area wherein the wider Kivu Conflicts have unfolded in the last decade overlaps almost entirely with some of the DRC’s most valuable mineral deposits, as armed groups actively exploit these resources for further gain.
The artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector produces about 90 per cent of the DRC’s mineral output. As the ASM sector typically lacks the size and security needed to efficiently deter influence from regional rebel groups, the mining sector as a whole falls victim to instability as a result of the M23 upsurge. Armed conflict and intervention by armed groups impacts 52 per cent of the mining sites in Eastern Congo, which manifests in the form of illegal taxation and extortion. As such, further acquisitions by M23 in Eastern Congo may put the DRC’s mineral sector under further strain.
The United Nations troop withdrawal
The escalation of the M23 conflict coincides with the United Nations’ plan to pull the entirety of their 13,500 peacekeeping troops out of the region by the end of the year upon the request of the recently re-elected government. With UN troops withdrawn, a military power vacuum is likely to form, thereby worsening insecurity and further damaging the DRC’s mining sector. However, regional armed groups are not the only actors that can clog this gap.
Regional international involvement
A further problem for the DRC’s mining sector is that the country’s political centre, Kinshasa, is located more than 1,600 km away from North Kivu, while Uganda and Rwanda share a border with the province.
Figure: Air travel distance between Goma and Kinshasa, Kigali and Kampala (image has been altered from the original)
The distance limits the government’s on-the-ground understanding of regional developments, including the extent of the involvement of armed groups in the ASM sector, thereby restricting the Congolese military’s effectiveness in countering regional rebellions.
In 2022, UN experts found ‘solid evidence’ that indicates that Rwanda is backing M23 fighters by aiding them with funding, training, and equipment provisions. Despite denials from both Kigali and M23 in explicit collaboration, Rwanda admitted to having military installments in eastern Congo. Rwanda claims that the installments act as a means to defend themselves from the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR)–an armed rebel group that Kigali asserts includes members who were complicit in the Rwandan genocide. The FDLR serves as a major threat to Kigali’s security, as its main stated aim is to overthrow the Rwandan government.
As such, M23, on the other hand, provides Rwanda with the opportunity to assert influence in the region and limit FDLR’s regional influence. Tensions between Rwanda and the DRC have, therefore, heightened, especially with the added fact that the Congolese army has provided FDLR with direct support to help the armed group fight against M23 rebels. As such, the DRC has been accused of utilising the FDLR as a proxy to counter Rwandan financial interests in the Congolese mining sector.
Another major point of contention between the states involves the smuggling of minerals. The DRC’s finance minister, Nicolas Kazadi, claimed Rwanda exported approximately $1bn in gold, as well as tin, tungsten, and tantalum (3T). The US Treasury has previously estimated that over 90 per cent of DRC’s gold is smuggled to neighbouring countries such as Uganda and Rwanda to undergo refinery processes before being exported, mainly to the UAE. Rwanda has repeatedly denied the allegations.
Furthermore, the tumultuous environment caused by the conflict might foster even weaker checks-and-balance systems, which will exacerbate corruption and mineral trafficking, which is already a serious issue regionally.
In previous surges of Congolese armed rebel violence, global demand for Congolese minerals plummeted, as companies sought to avoid problematic ‘conflict minerals’. In 2011, sales of tin ore from North Kivu decreased by 90 per cent in one month. Similar trends can be anticipated if the M23 rebellion gains strength, which may create a global market vacuum for other state’s exports to fill.
China
In recent years, China gained an economic stronghold of the DRC’s mining sector, as a vast majority of previously US-owned mines were sold off to China during the Obama and Trump administrations. It is estimated that Chinese companies control between 40 to 50 per cent of the DRC’s cobalt production alone. In an interest to protect its economic stakes, China sold nine CH-4 attack drones to the DRC back in February 2023, which the Congolese army utilised to curb the M23 expansion. Furthermore, Uganda has purchased Chinese arms, which it uses to carry out military operations inside of the DRC to counter the attacks of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan rebel group, which is based in the DRC. In return for military support, the DRC has granted China compensation via further access to its mining sector, which is helping bolster China’s mass production of electronics and technology within the green sector.
The US
Meanwhile, the US has put forth restrictions on imports of ‘conflict minerals’, which are minerals mined in conflict-ridden regions in DRC for the profit of armed groups. Although the US attempts to maintain certain levels of mineral trade with the DRC, the US’s influence in the country will likely continue to phase out and be overtaken by Beijing. The growing influence of M23 paves the path for further future collaboration between China and the DRC, both militarily and economically within the mining sector.
The UAE
The UAE, which is a major destination for smuggled minerals through Rwanda and Uganda, has since sought to end the illicit movement of Congolese precious metals via a joint venture that aims to export ‘fair gold’ directly from Congo to the UAE. In December of 2022, the UAE and DRC signed a 25-year contract over export rights for artisanally mined ores. The policy benefits both the DRC and the UAE as the UAE positions itself as a reliable partner in Kinshasa’s eyes, which paves the path for further business collaboration. In 2023, the UAE sealed a $1.9bn deal with a state-owned Congolese mining company in Congo that seeks to develop at least four mines in eastern DRC. The move can be interpreted as part of the UAE’s greater goal to increase its influence within the African mining sector.
Global Shifts
China and the UAE’s increasing involvement in the DRC can be seen as part of a greater diversification trend within the mining sector. Both states are particularly interested in securing a stronghold on the African mining sector, which can provide a steady and relatively cheap supply of precious metals needed to bolster the UAE’s and China’s renewables and vehicle production sectors. The scramble for control over minerals in Congo is part of the larger trend squeezing Western investment out of the African mining sector.
Furthermore, the UAE’s increasing influence in the DRC is representative of a larger trend of the Middle East gaining more traction as a rival to Chinese investment in Africa. Certain African leaders have even expressed interest in the Gulf states becoming the “New China” regionally, as Africa seeks alternatives to Western aid and Chinese loans.
Although Middle Eastern investment is far from overtaking China’s dominance of the global mining sector, an interest from Africa in diversifying their mining investor pools can go a long way in changing the investor share continentally. Furthermore, if the Middle East is to bolster its stance as a mining investor, Africa serves as a strategic starting point as China’s influence in the African mining sector is at times overstated. In 2018, China is estimated to have controlled less than 7 per cent of the value of total African mine production. Regardless, China’s strong grip on the global mining sector might be increasingly challenged through investor diversification in the African mining sector. The DRC is an informant of such a potential trend.
The further spread of the M23 rebellion, though likely to damage the Congolese mining business, might also foster stronger relations with countries such as the UAE which seek to minimise ‘conflict mineral’ imports. As such, the spread of the M23 rebellion–which acts as a breeding ground for smuggling, might catalyse new and stronger trade relations with the Middle East. This could be indicative of a trend of “de-Chinafication” in the region, or at least greater inter-regional competition for investment into the African mining sector.
How unrest in the DRC is affecting commodity supply chains
In late February, M23 rebels seized the town of Rubaya in the North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The town is a major coltan mining centre and its seizure is just the latest in a series of attacks by rebel groups on mining operations in the DRC, which has some of the world’s largest reserves of minerals including cobalt, copper, and coltan. In the same month, M23 captured the key towns of Mushaki and Mweso, bringing them ever closer to the regional capital Goma.
The M23 rebellion first emerged in 2012 and was initially defeated by Congolese and United Nations (UN) forces in 2013 but the group has continued to carry out sporadic attacks in the region since then. The latest seizure of Rubaya highlights the continued instability in the area and the challenges faced by the DRC government in maintaining control over its mineral wealth. The coltan supply coming from North Kivu will likely decrease because of this, which will lead to prices increasing in an already expensive market. Coltan contains niobium and tantalum, critical components in many electronic devices, as well as being important in the aerospace, healthcare, and energy industry. The international community may have to shift their attention away from the ongoing crisis in Ukraine if the situation continues to spiral.
The mining of these minerals often involves dangerous and exploitative working conditions, and profits from the industry have been linked to armed groups in the region. The situation is further complicated by the involvement of neighbouring countries such as Rwanda. Despite the DRC government alleging that M23 are receiving support in arms and men from Rwanda, this accusation was not levelled against Rwanda at the Community of Central African States nor the East African Community’s (EAC) at recent gatherings. With the DRC already struggling to contain the issue from spreading to other provinces, it is unsurprising that they would not want to throw more oil onto the fire and risk inciting harsher retaliation from Rwanda.
While it is unclear yet what this means for the future of the DRC, the loss of Goma would represent a major challenge to the authority of the government. Other dormant rebel groups may try their luck against a weakened central government. In addition to this, the DRC will likely pay close attention to the actions of Rwanda if M23 marches on Goma. With Lake Kivu preventing any attack from the south on Goma, the rebels will have to attack in two prongs from the north and west of the city. If reports emerge of fighters attacking Goma from its eastern border with Rwanda, Rwanda’s claims to not be supporting the group will become even more dubious.
The scale of the humanitarian crisis caused by such an attack, whether with help from Rwanda or not, would lead to a catastrophic loss of life. In the case of a capture of the city, thousands of people would be displaced or trapped within the zone of conflict with few options of escape. Both the UN and EAC have recognised the scale of this upcoming problem, with the UN calling for more than half a billion dollars in aid and the EAC calling for all rebel groups to withdraw from Eastern Congo.
With war in eastern Europe still ongoing, EU nations and the US are focused on Ukraine. This means material assistance to the DRC will most likely come from the EAC. In the best case scenario, this may not even be needed as M23 have previously caved to international diplomatic pressure and retreated from recent gains in December and January. But it is doubtful that they will take the same actions again given how close to a major objective they are and after already retreating from it.
As mentioned, the DRC is a vital source of other commodities whose supply and price would be adversely affected by the breakdown of the central DRC government. Cobalt and Copper, for example, have a wide range of applications, such as electronics and construction. While companies in these industries look for alternative sources for these minerals, they would be forced to pay higher prices thereby increasing prices for consumers as well. With inflation reaching record highs across parts of the world coupled with the reliance many industries have on technology, rising commodity prices could lead to decreased spending from consumers.