By Jessica Donati and Sonia Rolley
(Reuters) – Prominent Trump supporter Erik Prince has agreed to help Democratic Republic of Congo secure and tax its vast mineral wealth, according to two sources close to the private security executive, a Congolese government official and two diplomats.
The agreement, aimed at reaping more revenue from an industry marred by smuggling and corruption, was reached before Rwanda-backed M23 rebels launched a major offensive in January that has seen them seize eastern Congo’s two largest cities.
The discussions now on implementing the deal with Prince come as the U.S. and Congo explore a broader deal on critical minerals partnerships, after Congo pitched a minerals-for-security deal to U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration.
Prince founded Blackwater before renaming the private military company and selling it in 2010 after several employees were indicted on charges of unlawfully killing Iraqi civilians. The men were convicted but later pardoned by Trump during his first term.
The Trump administration has not said how the U.S. might contribute to security in Congo as part of any minerals deal. Analysts and former U.S. officials have said leaning on security contractors such as Prince could be an option.
A Congolese government source told Reuters that any agreement between Congo and Prince would need to be reviewed in light of the push for a deal with the U.S.
The security deal was agreed with the finance ministry, and Prince’s advisers will focus on improving tax collection and reducing cross-border smuggling of minerals, the two sources close to Prince said. There were no plans to deploy security contractors to areas of active conflict, the sources said.
Prince declined to comment through a spokesperson. The Congo presidency did not respond to a request for comment. The U.S. State Department declined to comment.
INITIAL FOCUS ON COPPER MINES, SOURCE SAYS
Democratic Republic of Congo has vast reserves of copper, cobalt, lithium and coltan – a mineral used widely in smartphones, computers and electric vehicles – but has been plagued for decades by violence in its eastern region.
The agreement between Congo and Prince initially involved a plan to deploy contractors to Goma, the capital of North Kivu province and the largest city in eastern Congo. But Goma is now under M23 control and that plan has been put on hold. M23 controls tracts of mineral-rich territory.
A source close to the Congolese government told Reuters an initial deployment of Prince’s advisers was expected to start in the south, far from the area controlled by M23 and its allies.
“If you just look at Katanga, if you look at Kolwezi down just off the Zambian-Congo border, they claim that there’s like $40 million a month in lost revenue of what’s going out and what’s coming in,” the source said.
A diplomatic source also told Reuters the first stage of Prince’s effort in Congo would focus on securing mines and tax revenues in copper-producing Katanga province.
One of the sources close to Prince said advisers were expected to deploy with technical experts from a company specialised in testing and inspecting commodities. The advisers would initially target larger mines and expand as revenue collection improved.
The source did not provide details on how the advisers would tackle corruption in the sector that has long drained revenue that would otherwise flow to the state.
A source in the office of Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi said an agreement in principle had been signed with Prince, but the details on where and how many advisers would be deployed remained to be established.
HISTORY OF WORKING IN AFRICA
Prince has worked in Africa for over a decade, initially providing logistics for oil and mining companies working in remote corners of the continent.
A number of Prince-controlled companies have operated in Congo since 2015. They have been involved in trucking and have also sought to get involved in the minerals sector.
The two sources close to Prince said the new agreement followed years of talks over how to improve Congo’s control over its mineral resources.
Prince previously proposed sending thousands of contractors to the eastern region during talks with Kinshasa in 2023, a U.N. expert panel reported that year. Those discussions did not ultimately lead to a deal.
Congo has long accused Rwanda of plundering minerals from the region, a claim supported by independent entities including the United Nations and the nonprofit Global Witness. Rwanda denies that.
That loss of mining revenue is one of the key concerns that Prince’s team will seek to address, one of the sources close to Prince said.
The goal is to ensure “that extraction industries and others are operating transparently, and that their production and revenues is properly distributed in accordance with the Congolese mining code”, the source said.
United Nations and Western governments say Rwanda has provided arms and troops to the ethnic Tutsi-led M23.
Rwanda has denied backing M23. It says its military has acted in self-defence against Congo’s army and a Rwandan militia operating in east Congo that was founded by perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide.
(Reporting by Jessica Donati and Sonia Rolley; Editing by Robbie Corey-Boulet and Alison Williams)
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