NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 17 \u2013 US President Donald Trump\u2019s Senior Advisor for Africa, Massad Boulos, says the United States and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are engaged in discussions over a potential minerals deal.<\/p>\n
Speaking during a virtual press conference following his tour of the African region, Boulos confirmed that discussions were held with DRC President F\u00e9lix Tshisekedi on advancing key infrastructure projects, including railways, highways, and power systems.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur role is to facilitate those private sector investments while also providing full support. The United States has several platforms, institutions, and organizations that have been\u2014and will continue\u2014supporting such efforts. These include the DFC, the U.S. EXIM Bank, and others. These institutions are fully prepared to support the private sector in Africa, whether in mining or other sectors, but especially in infrastructure,\u201d Boulos explained.<\/p>\n
He added, \u201cIt\u2019s about time the DRC had reliable infrastructure, which is not only in our interest and that of U.S. investors but, above all, in the interest of the Congolese people.\u201d<\/p>\n
U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs, Corina Sanders, expressed confidence that these developments would benefit both Congolese national development and U.S. strategic interests.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith respect to security on the ground in eastern DRC, what I\u2019ll say is that we are currently developing our own strategy\u2014one that is acceptable to both sides and to the region as a whole. That process is ongoing, and we\u2019ll share more details when we can,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Boulos also emphasized that recent U.S. mineral supply chain agreements are not exclusive to the DRC, but also involve Angola, Zambia, and neighboring countries.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe DFC is one of the major players in financing the Lobito Corridor project, which we hope will be completed soon. The project has made significant progress, especially on the Angolan side. We are now in discussions with President Tshisekedi\u2019s administration to advance work on the Congolese side, particularly with regards to railways, highways, and power projects, including dams and hydroelectric plants,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Some international diplomacy scholars have compared the DRC deal to the Trump administration\u2019s proposed arrangement in Ukraine to end the four-year war with Russia. <\/p>\n
Observers have dubbed the approach \u201cminerals for security,\u201d viewing it as a tactic to lock out competing global powers and influence mining activities and market prices.<\/p>\n
President Tshisekedi is reportedly open to the arrangement, as the presence of American firms could provide a security guarantee against advancing armed rebel groups such as M23.<\/p>\n\n
The trip, which lasted from April 2 to 9, included meetings with Heads of State in the DRC, Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda. President Trump\u2019s envoy on Africa said his visit focused on supporting efforts to achieve lasting peace in Eastern DRC and exploring opportunities to expand U.S. private sector investment across the continent.<\/p>\n
During his interaction with regional journalists, Boulos confirmed that negotiations between the DRC government and the M23 armed group have begun.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hope the outcome will be positive for all stakeholders involved,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He reiterated the U.S. position, demanding that Rwanda cease all support for the M23 rebel group, which currently holds critical towns in eastern DRC.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe U.S. position is that M23 must lay down their arms, and Rwandan forces must withdraw from the DRC. This is our clear and unwavering position, and we will continue to advocate for it. We strongly believe that peace will prevail\u2014not through force, but through dialogue,\u201d Boulos concluded.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 17 \u2013 US President Donald Trump\u2019s Senior Advisor for Africa, Massad Boulos, says the United States and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are engaged in discussions over a potential minerals deal. Speaking during a virtual press conference following his tour of the African region, Boulos confirmed that discussions were held with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113848\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}