CONGO CRISIS NEEDS MORE ATTENTION

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) isn’t just suffering from a crisis, it’s enduring a Western-backed resource war. Yet, the world looks away.

As our guest, Pappy Orion from Focus Congo (@focuscongo on IG, @focuscongo_drc on X) explained in this clip, the conflict is not getting the attention it deserves.

@pappyorion (IG and X) said preconceived notions dehumanising Africans and the mistaken perception that it is only an African affair have helped to obscure the true nature of the three-decade-long, Western-backed proxy war over minerals that had k*lled over 6 million people by 2010. However, minerals extracted from Congo power modern technology, including smartphones, electric cars and aeroplanes used worldwide.

One of the proxies involved is the Rwanda- and Uganda-backed M23 militia, which generates $800,000 from taxing mining in just one town, Rubaya. Meanwhile, DRC’s government reports losing $1 billion annually in resource theft to Rwanda alone. The beneficiaries of minerals like cobalt are the world’s biggest corporations, including Apple, Dell, Microsoft and Tesla.

As of 2024, the ongoing violence had internally displaced more than 7 million Congolese.

As Pan-Africanist Ghanaian leader Kwame Nkrumah (1909-72) said, ‘If we allow the independence of the Congo to be compromised in any way by the imperialist and capitalist forces, we shall expose the sovereignty and independence of all Africa to grave risk. The struggle of the Congo is therefore our struggle.’

Sources

Goma killed and displaced

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

https://dutchrelief.org/goma-drc-acute-crisis-joint-response/ 

DRC loses $1 billion a year

https://issafrica.org/iss-today/rampant-cobalt-smuggling-and-corruption-deny-billions-to-drc 

M23 makes $800,000 a month

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/as-the-drc-battles-rwanda-backed-m23-what-s-needed-to-stop-the-fighting/ar-AA1yYzHD 

Western firms complicity

https://www.theafricareport.com/339705/drc-blow-for-activists-as-us-court-dismisses-child-labour-case-against-five-tech-giants/ 

Nkrumah on Congo

https://africanagenda.net/nkrumah-on-the-significance-of-the-congo-for-africans/