Mineral-rich central Africa becomes focal point in US-China tug of war
- The Congolese president is expected to visit Beijing, not long after the US vice-president, first lady and several Biden cabinet members travelled to Africa
- In collaborating with Africa, the West’s history of ‘paternalism’ and expectations on human rights, labour and the environment set it apart from China
The president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is expected to travel to Beijing soon for a visit likely to include both gratitude and grievance, given China’s deep engagement in the central African country’s mining of critical minerals.
Félix Tshisekedi’s trip to Beijing, expected to take place late this month, has not yet been made official, and his foreign policy adviser said a state visit was still being discussed with the DRC’s Chinese counterparts.
Tshisekedi has called for an overhaul of a US$6.2 billion “minerals for infrastructure” deal signed in 2008, demanding a bigger share than that agreed upon by his predecessor, Joseph Kabila.
China has been the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s main mining partner for more than 15 years, but some of the terms of the country’s 2008 deal with China are not sitting well with its leaders a decade and a half later.
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In particular, the DRC is denouncing the imbalance that has allowed Chinese companies to earn at least US$10 billion in the last decade, while Kinshasa has benefited from only US$822 million worth of infrastructure.
“President Tshisekedi is going to try to leverage his influence with Beijing, and he’s going to welcome competition with China,” said Thomas Sheehy, a distinguished fellow at the Washington-based United States Institute of Peace.
