Tensions between Kinshasa and Kigali: Rwanda's economic interests in eastern DRC

An aerial view of a mountain range in the Great Rift Valley, in the province of North Kivu, DRC (illustration image).

MONUSCO/Abel Kavanagh

Text by: Coralie Pierret

1 min

In eastern DRC, fighting between the Congolese army and M23 insurgents continues in the province of North Kivu, bordering Rwanda.

This country is accused by the Kinshasa authorities of supporting the rebel armed group.

What Kigali continues to deny.

For the Congolese president, there is an " 

" in the east of his country.

Eastern DRC is indeed rich in raw materials and Rwandan interests in the area seem to be largely mining.

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Because of the tension between the two neighbours, the authorities in Kinshasa have requested the suspension of all bilateral agreements concluded between the DRC and Rwanda, including that on gold.

Extracted on the Congolese side, the ore had to be refined on the Rwandan side.

The objective was to better trace Congolese gold in order to deprive armed groups of income from this sector. 

Because the Congolese mining sector is plagued by fraud and smuggling.

The Rwandan neighbour, a small mining producer, is often accused, in various United Nations and/or NGO reports, of encouraging this smuggling sector, for gold, but also for coltan, tin, tantalum, juicy materials used in the manufacture of mobile phones or computers.  

According to a mining actor quoted in an April 2022 Global Witness report, “

”. 

But beyond the mining sector, exchanges between the DRC and Rwanda are enormous, both in the agricultural, commercial and service fields, sometimes one-way, recalls Daddy Saleh, Congolese expert in economy and development.

There are a lot of exchanges in terms of people, human resources (…) and there are also enormous commercial exchanges, because the DRC imports almost everything in terms of basic necessities.

Daddy Saleh, Congolese economics and development expert

Coralie Pierret

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