When President Trump started his term in office, he said Greenland should be controlled by the US because of its strategic position and minerals which are located in it. Getting the minerals out of Greenland, is a different story, but it has led to other possibilities. President Trump often talks about ending the war in Ukraine and Russia, because he wants peace. It turns out Ukraine has minerals and other assets that he is interested in. In these discussions, it is not apparent which companies would be involved in the minerals, but they would be American based.

In an article by Sonia Rolley and Portia Crowe of Reuters, the US is open to exploring critical mineral partnerships with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The DRC is rich in cobalt, lithium and uranium among other minerals.

The other aspect of the DRC is there is war going on with the Rwanda backed M23 which has seized huge territories particularly in fierce fighting this year. Will President Trump stop this war?

The state department said the US has worked to boost US private sector investment in the DRC to develop mining resources in a responsible and transparent manner.

The DRC’s spokesman Patrick Muyaya, said they are seeking diversified partnerships, and they have reserves and it would be good American capital could invest in the DRC.

Andre Wameso, deputy Chief of Staff to President Felix Tshisekedi, travelled to Washington for talks.

At the moment, the DRC’s mineral supply chains are dominated by China. The country of China has the Belt and Road strategy in countries around the world, whereby they build infrastructure and typically Chinese companies run the systems.

The US does not have state-owned companies like China does, and no private American mining companies operate in the DRC. Would the DRC give mining concessions to American companies?

Linking to dividend paying stocks, every country in the world has assets, although some are more valuable than others. When countries are interested, they are looking at the assets and/or strategic locations and hopefully what results is good for the local people. When you read about partnerships with countries always be cynical to see what it is really about. If it makes sense to you and the company, you invest in is doing a partnership then it is worth holding on to or look for alternatives.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.