The Democratic Republic of Congo has formally created a government body to push forward its strategic minerals partnership with the United States, according to cabinet minutes released following a recent meeting. The decision, made at a Sept. 11 cabinet session, establishes a "DRC-USA Task Force" intended to accelerate delivery of commitments under the bilateral agreement.
The establishment of the task force is presented by officials as a step toward broadening the country's investor base beyond its current reliance on Chinese financing and commercial partners. The DRC, which is the world’s largest producer of cobalt and the second-largest exporter of copper, signed the partnership with the United States in December.
Elements of the agreement have already begun to materialize. The partnership has supported a U.S.-backed mining investment made through Virtus Minerals and helped expand copper offtake arrangements between state miner Gecamines and trading firms Mercuria and Glencore, moves that have increased Congolese copper sales to Western markets.
At the cabinet meeting, Economy Minister Daniel Mukoko Samba told ministers that the new task force is intended to translate the commitments under the partnership into "concrete economic and security results" for Congolese citizens, according to the government account of the session. The statement did not specify who will sit on the task force or list priority projects it will manage.
A government official speaking on condition of anonymity said the task force had originally been scheduled to become operational in February but ran into administrative delays. The official added that, despite that postponement, implementation of the partnership has continued.
Also approved at the same cabinet meeting was a record budget for 2027, set at $24.8 billion - an increase of 12% from this year’s revised spending plan. The government statement identified infrastructure, security and economic diversification as budgetary priorities.
While details on the composition and immediate agenda of the DRC-USA Task Force remain limited in the government statement, the formal creation of the body signals Kinshasa’s intent to institutionalize follow-through on the U.S. partnership and to provide an administrative mechanism to coordinate projects and investments tied to that agreement.