RWANDA'S ROLE IN DRC CRISIS EXPLAINED

As we’ve been reporting, the crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) started in the late 1800s with the Berlin Conference carving up the African continent for European colonial powers. Then, in the late 1990s, a war over the DRC’s estimated $24 trillion in mineral reserves kicked off, backed by the same colonial powers that have funded client/puppet states like Rwanda and Uganda, both of which arm and train the M23 militia that has ravaged the eastern DRC. So far, its campaign to seize mineral-rich territory has forced more than 700,000 Congolese off their lands. That’s not counting the approximately 7 million internally displaced as of 2024. Nor does it consider the 6 million people klled as of 2010. For now, we know that M23 entering eastern DRC’s Goma city on 27 January had klled at least 3,000 people, but we still don't have an accurate estimate on the death toll over three decades.

As musical artist Molombo succinctly put it in this video, despite having no significant mineral deposits, Rwanda is one of the leading exporters of tin, tungsten and tantalum. The speculation has been that Rwanda uses M23 as a front for the Rwandan military, allowing them to operate covertly in the Congo. 

With the surge in violence, the West appears to be cutting ties with Rwanda. The US recently imposed sanctions on a Rwandan official and an M23 spokesperson. The European Parliament recommended freezing aid and suspending a minerals agreement. Plus, the UK has suspended aid to Rwanda. 

Meanwhile, the M23 generated $800,000 per month from taxing coltan in the mining town of Rubaya, which it captured in April 2024.

Video credit: @hey_molombo (IG and TikTok)

Sources

https://cic.nyu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/The-Resurgence-of-the-M23-EN.pdf

https://www.rescue.org/article/conflict-drc-what-you-need-know-about-crisis 

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/21/a-guide-to-the-decades-long-conflict-in-dr-congo 

https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/06/africa/dr-congo-goma-violence-deaths-intl-hnk/index.html 

https://www.theafricareport.com/375904/drc-rwanda-rubaya-coltan-mine-at-the-heart-of-m23-financing

https://reliefweb.int/report/democratic-republic-congo/wfp-flash-report-crisis-eastern-drc-no2-january-2025