Critical minerals and genocide in the Congo
When people hear the word “genocide”, they probably think of Gaza, maybe Sudan. But the world’s worst genocide has been occurring in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where vicious wars have been fought for nearly three decades for power and control over critical minerals.
In the wars from 1998 to 2012, the national army fought local militias as well as the armies of neighbouring Rwanda and Uganda, while six African countries intervened as a peacekeeping force. Estimates of the numbers killed range from four to six million.
Now violence has erupted again, with the Rwanda-backed M23 militia driving the DRC army out of Goma in January. Tens of thousands have since fled the North Kivu capital, adding to the estimated 750,000 people in refugee camps. In February, the South Kivu capital, Bukavu, was surrendered to the M23 without a fight.
Since the M23 militia invaded North and South Kivu provinces and captured their capitals Goma and Bukavu, it is reckoned that 3000 people have been killed. Local journalists said the streets of Goma were littered with bodies, many appearing to be civilians.
Violence against the civilian population is widespread, with huge levels of sexual violence against women. Twenty years ago it was said the DRC was the world’s capital of rape.
Today, the term rape goes nowhere near describing the unspeakable atrocities committed against women by all forces involved in the conflict. Sexual violence has a precise function — causing dread among the civilian population and forcing obedience or flight.
New inter-imperialist competition
North and South Kivu, along with Katanga further to the south, are home to vast amounts of critical minerals, including gold, diamonds, coltan, cobalt and the 17 so-called rare earth minerals needed in electronic devices of all kinds (see Appendix 1), plus other minerals such as lithium, needed in electric car batteries.
The search for critical minerals is part of the new inter-imperialist competition. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visited Kigali in 2023 and met with Rwandan president Paul Kagame to discuss EU mineral deals.
Luxembourg-based company Traxys is regarded as the main conduit of so-called “blood minerals” to EU manufacturers. In April, NGO Global Witness accused Traxys of knowingly trading coltan from militia-controlled areas in North Kivu (see Appendix 2).
Demand for critical minerals is rapidly rising because of accelerating demand for electronic devices, but also because the dominant models of green transition depend on vast numbers of batteries and magnets.
Wind turbines are widespread and there will be 1.4 billion electric cars by 2050. Simultaneously the intensification of high-tech weapons production (and the cloud computing to support it) require large amounts of rare earth and other minerals.
We have reached the threshold of a new period of catastrophic wars, in which ultra-high technology is used to find targets — weapons systems, soldiers, civilians, public infrastructure — and destroy them with what the US military terms “maximum lethality”.
This has tipped the world into a new arms race, which exceeds the old Cold War in the extent to which there is constant invention and use of new and more lethal weapons.
The imperial powers’ utter disdain for human life can be seen in Russia’s use of white phosphorus in Syria, the former Bashar al-Assad government’s use of chemical weapons against the Islamist hold-out areas in northern Syria, and the plethora of drones and missiles used by Russia in Ukraine.
At the same time, the US has given Israel 14,000 2000-pound bombs — the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima was equivalent to 15 tons, which is why Gaza looks as if it has been hit by several nuclear bombs.
Future green transition
There are many questions surrounding the green economy of the future, which is to be built around machines that need finite critical minerals.
By 2050, the vast energy consumption of electronic devices and data centres will pose major questions about the model of green transition that has been adopted by energy and computing corporations, as well as governments.
Infinite demand for finite resources could lead to another catastrophe.
US President Donald Trump is facing in two directions on this question. On the one hand, he says climate science is rubbish; on the other hand he wants the US to join the fight for critical minerals needed for the green transition.
At the Singapore regional security conference on May 30, French president Emmanuel Macron called on Asian and European countries to stand together against the attempt by major powers (the US and China) to control resources, such as minerals and fisheries, and push out smaller nations. Macron focused his appeal on countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines.
The next day, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth argued the US had always been an Indo-Pacific power and claimed China could be on the verge of launching an attack on Taiwan.
Hegseth was trying to swivel the debate onto the military/security terrain. His pitch was to stress that Asian countries could only secure their defence by standing shoulder to shoulder with US militarism.
Imperialist exploitation
The effect of imperialist domination on the DRC can be seen in the contrast between the extraordinary mineral wealth of the country and the dire poverty of most of its inhabitants.
In terms of mass poverty, the DRC is rated fifth in the world. The average income per person is just $449 a year and 75% of the population lives on less than $2 a day.
The mineral wealth of the country is effectively shared between the corrupt rulers of the DRC, Rwanda and Uganda and their respective capitalist classes — a narrow band of people with a stake in trading mineral wealth, through their links to the army, militias and governmental state apparatuses.
If we contrast the situation in the DRC with Norway’s huge mineral wealth (oil and, to a lesser extent, gas), then the price of imperialist intervention becomes clear.
Norway’s oil industry was nationalised from the moment North Sea oil was discovered in 1969. It financed the creation of a sovereign wealth fund, now called the National Investment Fund. The value of this fund is now just under $1.8 trillion.
The average Norwegian salary is more than $60,000 a year and the country has the highest income per capita of any country.
The imperialist seizure of the DRC’s wealth has brought its population poverty, continual displacement and endless violence.
The capitalist classes of poorer countries, such as the DRC, who trade away their national wealth, enriching themselves in the process, are what Marxists call “comprador capitalists”.
Rwanda president Paul Kagame has a neat twist on this, which is to enrich himself and the Rwandan capitalist class by selling off the wealth not only of his own country but of a neighbouring country with much bigger mineral reserves – the DRC.
No infinite consumption on a finite planet
The battle for control over critical minerals is part of a new phase of imperialism.
Trump, as the figurehead of the fascist MAGA movement, is attempting to sabotage the globalisation phase of world capitalism. At the same time, major capitalist states have embarked on a green transition involving the use of huge quantities of critical metals.
But these metals are finite.
For capitalists around the world seizing on the green transition to make money, this means the continual production of new commodities, spurring ever larger consumption of finite resources.
The spectacle of contemporary capitalism continually generates the delusion that people can live like rich celebrities through the accumulation of fast fashion, fast cars and home ownership, for example.
But they cannot — not now and not under socialism.
Appendix 1: Rare earth metals
According to the Opera browser’s AI:
Rare earth metals are a distinct group due to their unique chemical properties and their position in the periodic table. Here’s a breakdown of why they are considered a distinct group, how they are related, and their various uses:
Why they are a distinct group
Chemical similarity: Rare earth metals share similar chemical properties, which makes their separation challenging. They often exhibit similar ionic radii and oxidation states.
Position in the periodic table: They are located in the f-block of the periodic table, specifically in the lanthanide and actinide series.
Scarcity: Despite their name, they are not necessarily rare in terms of abundance in the Earth's crust, but they are rarely found in economically exploitable concentrations.
How they are related
Lanthanides: This group includes elements from lanthanum (La) to lutetium (Lu), which are known for their similar properties.
Actinides: This group includes elements from actinium (Ac) to lawrencium (Lr), which also share similar characteristics but are primarily radioactive.
Uses of rare earth metals
Rare earth metals are crucial in various high-tech applications, including:
Electronics: Used in smartphones, digital cameras, and computer hard drives.
Lighting: Essential for manufacturing LED lights and fluorescent lamps.
Magnets: Neodymium, for example, is used to create powerful magnets found in loudspeakers and motors.
Medical Imaging: Employed in MRI machines and other imaging technologies.
Renewable Energy: Important for wind turbines and electric vehicle batteries.
These metals play a vital role in modern technology, making them indispensable in various industries.
Appendix 2: Traxys and critical minerals
A new investigation by NGO Global Witness has raised serious questions about the European Union’s responsibility in the ongoing conflict in eastern DRC.
The report reveals that Traxys, a Luxembourg-based commodities trader, bought large quantities of coltan officially exported from Rwanda in 2024 — yet much of it is believed to have originated in Rubaya, a mining area in North Kivu under the control of the M23 armed group.
According to customs data obtained by Global Witness, Traxys imported 280 tons of coltan from Rwanda in 2024. However, two Congolese coltan smugglers interviewed by Global Witness claimed the material had been mined in Rubaya, where the M23 has established military and administrative control. One source explained that the rebel group levies a 15% tax on every load of coltan passing through its territory.
This mineral, once refined into tantalum, is a vital component in smartphones, electric vehicles, and other technologies central to the global energy transition.
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