This article recounts the position of a US official as he says there is a multi billion dollar deal in the work for mineral rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo. These negotiations aim to develop[ the Congo’s abundant natural resources including the large cobalt deposits. This carries deep political implications as the Congo has been the target of larger countries to get access to its resources since the advent of EVs. Whichever country can get it’s hands on these cobalt deposits and capitalize properly will gain a huge advantage in the ongoing trade war.
These negotiations reflect the strategic interest of both the Congo and the US. On the Congolese side partnering with the US could guarantee defense of both rebel groups and foreign harassments. meanwhile for the US gaining access to these large cobalt deposits would do wonders for it’s large EV market. This deal would carry substantial implications by strengthening the US position in Central Africa and counter balancing Russia and China’s presence on the continents and allowing for the US and her allies to gain a large amount of ground on these supposed adversaries. However these negotiations are still in the early stages and with the DRC’s conflict ridden present this is definitely a difficult situation to negotiate from.
This can be related to the current grand strategy of off shore balancing which has a less heavy focus on interventionism and allowing our allies to defend themselves and us to fund and benefit from their position. It can also alleviate the growing concern of a Africa dictated by the Russian and the Chinese who would create a worse situation with the US desire for many of the natural resources from the African continent. A large deal in the Congo would also spread the American influence to other countries that are still unaligned in sub Saharan Africa.