Arria-formula Meeting on Critical Minerals and Resource-Driven Insecurity in Africa
Tomorrow afternoon (9 July), Sierra Leone will convene an Arria-formula meeting titled “The Global Race for Critical Minerals: Addressing Resource-Driven Insecurity in Africa”. Guyana and incoming Council members the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Liberia are co-sponsoring the meeting. The expected briefers are Emmanuel Makumba Mali, Director for Democracy and Good Governance at the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR); Tunde Arisekola, Acting Head of the African Minerals Development Centre (AMDC) at the African Union (AU); Bojun Tang, Executive Secretary of the Kimberley Process Secretariat; and Mickaël Daudin, Programme Manager at the International Tin Supply Chain Initiative (ITSCI).
The meeting will begin at 3 pm EST and take place at the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Chamber. It will be broadcast on UNTV and is open to all UN member states and permanent observers, as well as representatives of regional organisations, relevant UN entities, civil society, academia, and the private sector. Sierra Leone intends to circulate a chair’s summary of the meeting.
According to the concept note drafted by Sierra Leone, one of the meeting’s objectives is to strengthen international awareness of the link between critical minerals and insecurity in Africa and to identify actionable policy measures to address the issue. The concept note cites forecasts by the UN indicating that the demand for critical minerals will triple by 2030. In this regard, it underscores the need to ensure transparency and equitable governance, without which the competition over these resources could exacerbate corruption, inequality, and conflict in mineral-rich regions. Therefore, the meeting aims to inform future Security Council deliberations on the issue and to foster cooperation among member states, regional mechanisms, the private sector, and international partners to promote responsible mineral governance.
Tomorrow’s meeting will also assess the effectiveness of various regional and international mechanisms aimed at curbing the illegal exploitation of natural resources, including the Kimberley Process, the Regional Certification Mechanism of the ICGLR, the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), and the Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). In this context, the meeting aims to identify existing implementation gaps and explore ways to support, strengthen, and harmonise these mechanisms to ensure traceability, certification, and responsible sourcing throughout supply chains with a view to enhancing transparency and deterring mineral smuggling.
The concept note poses several questions to help guide the discussion at tomorrow’s meeting, including:
- What practical steps can be taken to improve corporate due diligence, traceability, and certification?
- How can UN peace operations incorporate mineral governance into their mandates?
- What role can technology, private sector initiatives, and civil society monitoring play in improving transparency and accountability in mineral supply chains?
It seems that Sierra Leone had initially intended to focus the meeting on the Great Lakes region, but other members of the “A3 Plus” grouping (Algeria, Somalia, and Guyana) apparently suggested adopting a broader focus. Although illicit trafficking of natural resources by armed groups is an important issue in several other African files on the Council’s agenda, such as the Central African Republic (CAR) and Mali, a key focus of many speakers at tomorrow’s meeting is likely to be the Great Lakes region. This region holds vast reserves of critical minerals such as tantalum, tin, tungsten, and cobalt, which are essential for a wide range of industries. The so-called “3Ts” (tantalum, tin, and tungsten) are particularly vital for electronics, smartphones, and defence systems. The DRC in particular is believed to possess significant reserves of these minerals and plays a central role in global supply chains, attracting the attention of major powers and multinational corporations.
The exploitation of these resources is believed to have contributed to exacerbating instability in the DRC and the wider Great Lakes region. Armed groups operating in eastern DRC continue to exploit and trade these minerals, fuelling ongoing conflicts and heightening regional tensions. This has apparently disrupted critical mineral supply chains and hindered efforts to promote responsible sourcing. This issue is a recurring topic in Security Council discussions on the DRC and the Great Lakes region. For instance, in October 2021, Kenya convened a ministerial-level debate on the Great Lakes region that focused on exploring ways of curbing the illegal exploitation and trade of natural resources. (For more information, see our 19 October 2021 What’s in Blue story.) Council members regularly condemn such activities in their statements and resolutions, and they continue to express support for regional and international mechanisms aimed at addressing this challenge.
The 1533 DRC Sanctions Committee, which Sierra Leone currently chairs, also devotes particular attention to the issue of natural resource exploitation. For example, it has held informal consultations on “DRC-mined gold, tantalum, and tungsten: illicit trading in DRC and internationally” on two occasions, on 30 July 2021 and 14 June 2024.
The Group of Experts assisting the 1533 DRC Sanctions Committee regularly covers the illegal exploitation of natural resources in its periodic reports to the sanctions committee and issues recommendations for addressing the problem. The final report of the Group of Experts, submitted in early May, apparently addresses the issue in the context of the prevailing security situation in eastern DRC. It seems that the report has raised concerns about the integrity and credibility of mineral traceability systems, indicating that this challenge may pose risks for the trade in 3T minerals. Council members discussed the report on 2 July following the adoption of resolution 2783 of 30 June, which renewed the 1533 DRC sanctions regime until 1 July 2026 and the mandate of the Group of Experts until 1 August 2026. That resolution expressed concern at “the continued illegal exploitation, taxation and trade of natural resources and diversion through illicit channels”, which enable armed groups in eastern DRC to operate.
The issue of critical minerals in the DRC and the broader Great Lakes region gained particular attention recently following media reports that the Congolese government had offered the US access to its critical mineral reserves in exchange for US support in its fight against the Mouvement du 23 mars (M23) armed group. This takes place against the backdrop of a reported focus by the US on the DRC and the Great Lakes region after Washington concluded a deal with Ukraine—another country rich in critical minerals—in April. In a 19 March interview with US media, DRC President Félix Tshisekedi explained the rationale behind the offer, arguing that it “would provide a strategic advantage to both countries”. Earlier that month, US Senior Adviser for Africa Massad Boulos visited the region, including the DRC, where he held meetings with Tshisekedi and other senior Congolese officials. Following their meeting, Boulos reportedly stated that he had reviewed the DRC’s mineral proposal and agreed with the president on “a path forward for its development”.
The US has been involved in mediation efforts aimed at normalising relations between the DRC and Rwanda. The two countries have exchanged recriminations over alleged support for their proxies in the conflict in eastern DRC. The DRC accuses Rwanda of supporting the M23 while Rwanda asserts that the DRC supports the Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda (FDLR), an ethnic Hutu armed group active in eastern DRC that was implicated in the 1994 genocide of Tutsis in Rwanda.
On 27 June, the two countries signed a US-brokered peace agreement, which contains provisions aimed at fostering regional economic integration by building on existing mechanisms to which both are party. The agreement also seeks to promote foreign trade and investment in natural resources for the benefit of local populations. In particular, it aims to de-risk mineral supply chains and establish formal, transparent processes from extraction to processed metal—linking the two countries, where appropriate, with the US government and American investors. At a 27 June Security Council meeting on the situation in the DRC, Council members welcomed the agreement, while emphasising the need for both countries to fully commit to its implementation in order to achieve tangible progress on the ground.
