On January 28, rebels seized the airport in Goma, the largest city in the eastern part of the African nation. They entered the city on January 27 and had complete control by January 28.
According to reports, the invasion of Goma marked the worst escalation since 2012 in the 30-year conflict, which was triggered by the genocide in neighboring Rwanda and the struggle for control over the mineral resources of the DRC. In the Congolese capital Kinshasa, located 1,600 km west of Goma, protesters attacked the UN building and embassies, including those of Rwanda, France, and the USA. Looters ransacked the Kenyan embassy in the DRC.
Two sources informed the agency that the U.S. State Department ordered embassy staff to leave the DRC. One of the sources, who was knowledgeable about the situation, indicated that they were expected to depart the country on Wednesday.
Authorities in the DRC and the head of the UN peacekeeping contingent stated that Rwandan troops are present in Goma, supporting their M23 allies. Rwanda claimed it was defending itself against threats from Congolese militias but did not directly comment on whether its troops crossed the border. UN Secretary-General António Guterres held separate talks on Tuesday with the presidents of the DRC and Rwanda, urging Rwanda to protect the civilian population.
Later, Reuters reported that M23 rebels cornered mercenaries and remnants of the Congolese army after capturing the country's second city, Goma. According to the Security Tracker Group, mercenaries were hired to support the disorganized Congolese army, but the conflict worsened. As a result, about 300 foreign mercenaries, hired by the DRC government to counter the swift advance of Rwandan-backed M23 rebels in the east of the country, surrendered to UN peacekeeping forces in Goma on January 29, who then arranged for their return home via neighboring Rwanda. Among the evacuated mercenaries were individuals from Romania.
One Romanian mercenary, who had lived in Goma for about two years, noted that the city is devastated due to the war between Rwandans and Congolese. Neighboring Rwanda denies supporting the rebels but claims it has taken so-called defensive measures. Rwanda accuses the DRC of having ties to those responsible for the genocide in Rwanda in 1994.
Mercenaries hired to support the underpaid and disorganized Congolese army operated high-tech military drones, which, according to an analysis by the International Crisis Group, had long been effectively used by Rwandan air defense systems.
DRC President Félix Tshisekedi pledged on Wednesday to take retaliatory measures to reclaim territory seized by M23 rebels. The Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) had previously reported plans to build a high-quality cobalt processing plant in the DRC. It was expected that construction would be carried out by the Chinese BGRIMM Technology Group, with raw materials supplied by the Congolese company from the ERG group—Metalkol, which also supplies cobalt to China. The total investment in the project was projected to be $250 million.
Additionally, the group planned to introduce a hydrometallurgical plant at another ERG facility in the DRC—Comide—by 2025. Upon reaching full capacity, production was expected to achieve 80,000 tons of cathode copper and 14,000 tons of cobalt hydroxide per year. The total expenses for the project, including geological exploration, drilling, and overall field development, were estimated at $800 million. Historically, the Frontier copper company, which is part of the group, has also operated in the DRC.
ERG's reporting indicated that cobalt and copper (both metals are mined in the DRC) are key products in Africa. The group employed 5,100 staff on the African continent, and the economic value of these enterprises was approximately $2 billion. By the end of 2023, ERG had 102,600 tons of finished cobalt, copper, and other non-ferrous metals for sale, compared to 99,900 tons in 2022.
Revenue from the sale of copper, cobalt, and other non-ferrous metals in the DRC and Zambia amounted to $1.527 billion in 2023. For comparison, ERG's revenue from aluminum sales, which is produced only in Kazakhstan, totaled $1.076 billion. The group aimed to achieve cobalt production volumes at Metalkol in the DRC of 105,000 tons of copper and 20,000 tons of cobalt annually (in 2023, these figures were 102,600 tons and 20,000 tons, respectively). Meanwhile, Frontier obtained 60,700 tons of copper concentrate (compared to 90,500 tons in 2022) and planned to develop mining in the DRC over the next ten years.
“Kursiv” requested a comment from ERG; however, a response had not been received by the time the article was published. The co-owners of Eurasian Resources Group include the Ministry of Finance of Kazakhstan—40%, Alexander Mashkevich and the Ibragimov family—20.7% each, and Patokh Shodiev—18.6%. The Ibragimov family ranks seventh among the wealthiest Kazakhs according to Forbes, with a net worth of $1.5 billion.
Alexander Mashkevich ranked sixth among the wealthiest Israelis in the 2022 Forbes list with a net worth of $3.7 billion; however, he has not appeared in billionaire lists since then. Founders of the Eurasian Group Alexander Mashkevich, Patokh Shodiev, and Alidjan Ibragimov (now deceased, succeeded by his wife Mukadaskhan Ibragimova and their four sons—Dostan, Davron, Shukhrat, and Furkhod) became the first dollar billionaires in Kazakhstan according to Forbes in 2005, each with a fortune of $1 billion.