In January 2025, the Rwanda-backed M23 paramilitary group launched an offensive in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The fighting has killed over 7,000 people and left over 400,000 displaced. On 21 January, M23 seized the town of Minova in South Kivu province. On 29 January, it took Goma, the largest city in North Kivu province. Following this, the city of Bukavu fell on 16 February followed by the town of Walikale on 20 March. Behind this war is a violent re-division of DRC by imperialism for access to its abundant mineral resources. Kotsai Sigauke reports.
DRC is the heart of Africa. It borders nine sub-Saharan African countries, giving it strategic importance. It has a mineral wealth of over $24 trillion. DRC has the world’s largest deposits of copper, cobalt, coltan and cadmium, as well as chrome, timber, tin, rubber, oil, uranium, germanium, diamonds and gold. These are needed to manufacture commodities such as iPhones, laptops and electric vehicles, as well as for green and military technologies. Therefore, it is a strategically important and profitable destination for capital. The imperialist ruling classes will not allow a genuinely sovereign and liberated Congo to exist.
Congo’s re-division
Rwanda has invaded DRC six times. The Rwandan Civil War culminated in the French-backed 1994 Rwandan Genocide that saw one million Tutsi people butchered by the racist Hutu government and its militias. After the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF), a British-backed Tutsi party, overthrew that government, the genocidaires and one million Hutu refugees fled into neighbouring Congo. This led to Rwanda’s first invasion of the country in 1996. It invaded again in 1998 with British and US backing.
Today Rwanda backs M23 and has troops in eastern DRC, ostensibly to protect Congolese Tutsis from persecution and to hunt down the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a Hutu extremist militia that includes the perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide. In practice, Rwanda is establishing a buffer zone in eastern DRC through M23, giving it control over the region’s minerals and trading routes. In the areas it occupies, M23 has set up administrative structures, appointing governors, setting up tax structures and recruiting the local population into its ranks and quasi-government. Because of minerals smuggled from DRC, Rwanda exports far more minerals than it mines – in 2023 its mineral exports were over $1bn.
Uganda has troops in eastern DRC and works with the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC) to hunt down Ugandan Islamist rebels in the country. At the same time, it provides material support to M23. It invaded Congo with Rwanda in 1996 and 1998. Its military presence ensures it also benefits from minerals smuggled from the east. In the year 2023/24, its refined gold exports were £2.3bn.
The DRC government had been backed by South Africa and Burundi in the war. However, in 2025, both states essentially admitted failure and announced they would withdraw their troops from the country. This has left DRC isolated. DRC’s government has had to rely on foreign mercenaries, local Congolese militias, and the genocidal FDLR to fight the war.
Imperialism indecisive
On 8 February, DRC President Felix Tshisekedi wrote to US President Donald Trump, offering a deal for access to DRC’s minerals in exchange for security guarantees and military support. This would give US imperialism access to DRC’s strategic resources. Since 2020, the US has no cobalt mines in DRC, whereas China, a rival to US imperialism, now controls over 70% of DRC’s cobalt output. For such a deal to work, US military support would be needed to ensure a stable investment environment.
However, Rwanda is an ally of Western imperialism. 40% of Rwanda’s national budget comes from foreign aid; former British Prime Minister Tony Blair served as a political advisor to Rwandan President Paul Kagame; it has received military aid from the EU to send troops to Mozambique in order to protect French and Italian assets after an insurgency developed there; it has sponsorship deals with Arsenal Football Club and PSG; and the previous racist British Tory government signed a memorandum of understanding with Rwanda to ‘offshore’ asylum seekers there in 2022.
Following the escalation of the war, there has been backlash. In February 2025, the British state cut aid to Rwanda, citing the country’s support for M23, although this conveniently comes as the British government wants to cut its foreign aid budget. The US has imposed its own sanctions on individuals in M23 and the Rwandan government.
The EU’s response has been contradictory due to conflicting interests within the bloc. The EU imposed sanctions on nine individuals connected to the Rwandan government and M23 as well as the Gasabo refinery in Kigali which processes stolen gold from DRC. Belgium and Germany have cut aid to Rwanda. The European Parliament has urged the European Commission to end a 2024 deal with Rwanda for sustainable raw materials (materials undoubtedly looted from DRC) but the European Commission is resisting this. Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands want to end military aid to Rwanda but France, Italy and Portugal have economic interests in Mozambique which Rwanda is protecting militarily.
Limited backlash from its imperialist backers has forced Rwanda to the negotiating table. After peace talks in Qatar, President Tshisekedi and President Kagame called for a ceasefire in March 2025. Any peace that results from these talks will be fragile and will not address the crisis in DRC. Peace will involve a re-division of DRC; Rwanda and Uganda will back their proxy to ensure they get their chunks of the east and foreign capital will continue to extract wealth from the country. In these circumstances, the Congolese masses will continue to suffer from brutal exploitation and inevitable wars for control over their country’s resources.
FIGHT RACISM! FIGHT IMPERIALISM! 305 April/May 2025
