History Illustrated: DRC fights to end trade in ‘blood minerals’

The last time the M23 rebels took Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), they held the city for just 10 days. That was in 2012. Now, after seizing Goma again in January 2025, as well as Bukavu, they look like they plan on staying. And it may have to do with “blood minerals”.

The roots of this conflict date to the Berlin Conference of 1884-85, when European states, including France, Germany and Belgium, imposed new borders on Africa, ignoring cultures, ethnicities and kingdoms, to exploit its natural resources. As a result, some people from Rwanda, for example, suddenly became part of what is now the DRC.

More recently, during the Rwandan genocide against the Tutsis in 1994, many Hutus, including some of the killers, fled Rwanda for the DRC. Over the years, some of these men would form militias.

In 1996, Rwanda invaded the DRC in the First Congo War, targeting the Hutu militias, followed by the Second Congo War from 1998 to 2003.

The M23 rebels, made up of mostly Tutsis, formed in 2012, taking their name from a March 23, 2009 peace deal with the DRC that they say was never fully implemented.

Over many years, the fighting in mineral-rich eastern DRC has ebbed and flowed, but at the start of 2025, the M23 took territory in stunning fashion – a feat widely attributed to military cooperation with Rwanda. The United Nations says up to 4,000 Rwandan soldiers are helping the M23.

In the past, Rwandan President Paul Kagame has vehemently denied backing the M23. “Accusing Rwanda of [supporting] M23 is wrong and distracts from the real cause of continued conflict in eastern DRC,” Kagame said. Rwanda blames the DRC for allowing 130 armed groups to operate on its territory, including the FDLR and FARDC, which Rwanda accuses of “targeting” its border areas.

The West has long coveted the DRC’s mineral deposits – like tantalum (for electronics), tin, tungsten and gold – said to be worth tens of trillions of dollars. Some militias in the DRC are accused of smuggling blood minerals, like tantalum, into Rwanda. Despite having “modest” reserves, Rwanda supplies 36 percent of the tantalum bought by the United States.

The recent fighting in the DRC has killed thousands of civilians, and displaced many more, with the M23 seizing valuable mines. The DRC says it’s losing $1bn a year in revenue to minerals smuggled into Rwanda. With that kind of money at stake, the flow of blood minerals has proven difficult to stop.