Sub-Saharan Africa is estimated to hold around 30% of the world’s critical mineral reserves, according to several converging assessments. Among the best-endowed countries is the Democratic Republic of Congo, whose mineral wealth continues to attract international interest.

TechMet, a U.S.-backed investment vehicle focused on strategic mining projects, remains open to new investment opportunities, including in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), though its current priority is advancing its existing assets. Chief Executive Brian Menell told Reuters this week on the sidelines of the 2026 Investing in African Mining Indaba, the industry’s flagship annual event in South Africa.

“We're certainly open to the DRC. It's a very important country, and at some point, we want to have a significant involvement in the DRC. What that point is, we'll see,” the CEO said, adding that there is “nothing immediate.”

Seeking new capital

Valued at more than $1 billion, TechMet invests across the critical minerals value chain. It holds stakes in several mining companies, some of them in Africa.

These include Rainbow Rare Earths, which owns the Gakara rare earths mine in Burundi as well as a project in South Africa. TechMet is also the majority shareholder in Trinity Metals, which operates tin and tungsten mines in Rwanda.

The interest in the DRC comes as the fund has announced plans to raise up to $200 million in additional capital to expand its critical minerals activities. Last year, it completed a funding round that raised about $300 million, including $180 million from the Qatar Investment Authority.

TechMet’s main shareholders include the International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), the U.S. government’s development finance agency, as well as private investors such as Mercuria, S2G Investments and Lansdowne Partners.

DRC’s mineral wealth draws interest

Although no specific project has been announced, the CEO’s remarks underscore the DRC’s central role in global discussions on critical minerals.

The appeal stems largely from the country’s vast mineral reserves, which are among the world’s richest in resources essential to the energy transition and advanced technologies. The DRC is the world’s second-largest copper producer and the top producer of cobalt.

Before Menell, other Western players had highlighted this potential in recent years. In 2023, U.S. startup KoBold Metals, backed by billionaires including Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, described the DRC as “probably the best place in the world” for some of the strategic materials needed for the energy transition, citing resources that could power tens of millions of electric vehicles.

While China retains a substantial lead in the Congolese mining sector, controlling several major copper and cobalt assets, relations with the United States have warmed in recent months. In early January 2026, Kinshasa said it would provide a list of strategic mining projects that could interest U.S. investors, as part of strengthened cooperation with Washington.

The announcement came just over a month after the two countries signed a strategic partnership in December. The agreement allows U.S. investors to access selected priority projects.

Congolese Mines Minister Louis Watum clarified, however, that the talks would follow standard commercial terms, with no automatic preferential treatment. For Kinshasa, the challenge now is to turn renewed Western interest into concrete investment and measurable benefits for the national economy.

Louis-Nino Kansoun