A new investigation by independent outlet Drop Site News has revived uncomfortable questions about how intelligence networks, private military contractors and business elites have long intersected in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s mineral economy.
Drawing on US Justice Department records and hacked emails from former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, the investigation alleges that convicted financier Jeffrey Epstein and Barak cultivated a network that blended Israeli intelligence expertise, private security contracting and commercial access to Congo’s vast reserves of cobalt, copper and other strategic minerals.
According to the investigation published on Thursday, the relationship evolved beyond security cooperation.
During the 2012-2013 conflict against the M23 rebellion, former Israeli intelligence officials reportedly helped train elite Congolese special forces.
As the conflict subsided, discussions increasingly shifted toward mining, infrastructure and logistics investments.
The report says Epstein’s associates opened channels to former Congolese President Joseph Kabila through business figures linked to Dubai’s DP World, exploring opportunities in mining, transport, ports, oil and gas.
While many of the individuals involved have since left office or died, the investigation argues that the underlying geopolitical competition remains remarkably unchanged.
Today, eastern Congo has become one of the world’s most strategically contested regions as major powers compete over minerals essential for electric vehicles, semiconductors and defence technologies.
The US has intensified efforts to loosen China’s dominance over global critical mineral supply chains, while Gulf investors, Western mining firms and private security contractors have increasingly re-entered Congo’s resource sector.
The investigation also links these developments to current efforts involving Blackwater founder Erik Prince, who has reportedly been advising Congolese security reforms alongside Israeli advisers as Kinshasa continues its military campaign against M23 rebels.
For decades, Congo’s immense mineral wealth has attracted governments, multinational corporations, intelligence agencies and private military actors.
Yet despite repeated waves of foreign investment and geopolitical interest, the country’s eastern provinces continue to experience persistent conflict, while much of the wealth generated from cobalt, copper and other minerals has not benefited the people of the region.
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