Highlights
- U.S.-backed peace deal between DRC and Rwanda aims to establish a transparent minerals corridor with strategic geopolitical implications
- The agreement could provide access to vital critical minerals like cobalt and rare earth elements while challenging Chinese regional influence
- Success depends on addressing local governance challenges, reducing corruption, and ensuring meaningful community engagement
A new U.S.-brokered peace agreement (opens in a new tab) between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda is making headlines—and may reshape the future of global critical mineral supply chains. Dubbed the “Washington Accord,” the deal aims to end years of brutal cross-border conflict and enable American-aligned access to the DRC’s vast mineral wealth. But the underlying question remains: Can a minerals-for-peace framework really deliver stability and sustainable supply?
The deal covered by authors at the Atlantic Council (opens in a new tab), June 27, 2025, center, on demilitarization, mutual respect for territorial integrity, and the creation of a U.S.-backed “transparent minerals corridor” between DRC and Rwanda. In theory, this opens the door to large-scale investment in DRC’s cobalt, tantalum, coltan, and rare earth reserves—resources indispensable to both green energy and advanced defense tech. With China dominating DRC’s cobalt processing and allegedly supplying arms to both sides of the conflict, the deal is also seen as a strategic U.S. counter to Chinese influence in Central Africa.
According to the piece authored by Frannie Léautier, Tressa Guenov, Alexandria Maloney, and Will Mortenson, experts praise the potential: the corridor could anchor industrial zones, accelerate regional trade, and offer a new model for ethical resource development. If implemented with traceability, environmental safeguards, and local stakeholder engagement, it could be a rare success story of diplomacy aligning with economic development.
But the risk is clear. The Rwanda-backed M23 militia, a key player in eastern Congo’s unrest, was excluded from negotiations. DRC governance remains weak, corruption is endemic, and the rule of law is fragile. Without fundamental reform, critics warn the deal could reinforce the very dynamics it claims to fix: foreign resource extraction enriching elites while violence persists.
Key unanswered questions for investors
- Will the U.S. continue to provide technical and financial support, especially as development budgets shrink?
- Can local communities, long excluded from mineral deals, gain real agency and benefit? Corruption reigns in this part of the world.
- Will this reduce U.S. dependency on China’s critical mineral refining—or merely shift the problem?
REEx Takeaway
The Washington Accord is a significant geopolitical and economic initiative. For retail investors in critical minerals, it signals U.S. seriousness (and the U.S. had better be very serious about critical minerals and Africa relations)—but the path forward is fraught. Track implementation closely. Investment opportunities may increase, but only if peace is maintained and the region develops the capacity to refine and retain value.
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