The U.S.–DRC Strategic Partnership Agreement (signed Dec. 4, 2025) is a bilateral framework recognizing the DRC as a strategic partner and committing both governments to deepen cooperation on peace, stability, and economic development. Commitments include boosting U.S. private investment (especially in critical minerals); creating a Strategic Asset Reserve (SAR) and exploring a Strategic Minerals Reserve (SMR); establishing a Joint Steering Committee (JSC) and a Binational Economic Partnership Forum (BEPF); promoting the Sakania–Lobito Corridor and Grand Inga hydropower; exploring security/defense cooperation (including a possible Security MOU); providing technical assistance, governance and judicial reforms; and enabling preferential fiscal/tax/regulatory incentives and offtake arrangements, all subject to DRC domestic law and JSC oversight.
The SAR is a DRC-designated list of critical mineral assets, gold assets, and unlicensed exploration areas that the DRC sets aside to prioritize projects supporting reliable mineral supply. The Agreement gives the DRC authority to designate the initial list and to add assets over time (the JSC maintains updates); the treaty text requires additions to further the Agreement’s supply‑chain, national‑security and development objectives but does not publish an itemized public selection formula.
Preferential access in the Agreement means concrete process and policy advantages: U.S. persons receive a right of first offer on SAR projects; U.S. proposers get priority negotiation windows (three months, renewable once) before others; the DRC agrees to ‘endeavor’ to accept U.S. proposals first and favor those aligning with supply‑chain/national‑security objectives; and the DRC intends to establish preferential fiscal/tax/regulatory incentives (examples in the text include a renewable fiscal stabilization clause, a 90‑day VAT reimbursement rule, and a centralized ‘guichet unique’), though those incentives require DRC law changes and final implementation by DRC authorities.
To obtain the SAR asset list an entity generally must be an eligible U.S. person or an ‘aligned person’ as defined in Annex 2 (e.g., U.S. nationals or entities organized under U.S. law; aligned persons are non‑U.S. parties meeting specified security filters). For QSP designation Annex 1 requires meeting ownership/control thresholds (e.g., ≥51% U.S. ownership or ≥40% with effective control by U.S./aligned persons), compliance with offtake requirements, permitted project types (greenfield/brownfield mining, downstream beneficiation, critical infrastructure, or tailings reprocessing), and priority location criteria (remote or post‑conflict areas). Eligibility disputes are resolved by the JSC.
The DRC government decides which projects are ‘DRC Designated Strategic Projects’ (it must provide the initial list and may add projects later). The Agreement directs the DRC to select projects based on criteria in Article V: expected capacity to drive industrial transformation and local value addition; strengthen infrastructure, energy and technology systems; support peace, stability and state authority in conflict‑affected or remote areas; and promote inclusive development. The JSC reviews alignment, coordinates financing, and oversees implementation.
The Sakania–Lobito Corridor is a strategic rail/transport route linking DRC mining regions to the Atlantic port of Lobito (via the SNCC/Tenke‑Lobito line). The Agreement prioritizes rehabilitation/modernization of the DRC rail section, an open non‑discriminatory access regime for qualified operators, and mobilizing financing to increase freight capacity. Improved corridor operation is intended to lower transport costs, raise export volumes of copper/cobalt/zinc, strengthen regional connectivity and logistics, and improve competitiveness (the Agreement even sets illustrative export‑share targets for corridor use within five years).
The joint statement records discussions of ongoing efforts to advance stability in eastern DRC but did not announce new operational security measures at the inaugural JSC meeting. The Agreement identifies mechanisms to support peace and security: prioritizing DRC Designated Strategic Projects and QSPs in conflict‑affected areas to strengthen state presence; targeted investment and technical assistance (judicial reforms, regulatory capacity, tax/customs enforcement training); ASM formalization and economic inclusion programs; JSC coordination and oversight; and exploration of a dedicated Security Memorandum of Understanding and other security/defense cooperation—each subject to applicable law and further political decisions.