Nobel Peace Prize winner Denis Mukwege is calling on the international community to take decisive action against the illegal exploitation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s minerals, accusing neighboring Rwanda of backing armed rebels to profit from one of the world’s most valuable resources: coltan. His statement comes after a United Nations report confirmed that the M23 militia, supported by Rwanda’s military, is extracting and smuggling vast quantities of the mineral used in smartphones, electric vehicles, and batteries.
“It is time to put an end to this war economy,” Mukwege said on January 9. “If the developed world wants to pursue a clean and fair energy transition, it must stop the illegal extraction and trade of strategic minerals in the heart of Africa.”
According to the U.N. report, the M23 militia controls the transport of around 120 tons of coltan per month from mines in eastern Congo, collecting at least $800,000 in monthly revenue from illegal mining taxes. Much of the mineral is smuggled into Rwanda, where it enters global supply chains. The rebels have also set up a shadow administration in the occupied territories of Nyiragongo and Rutshuru, turning their control of Congo’s resources into an economic lifeline. 
Mukwege accuses Rwanda of orchestrating the militia’s resurgence as part of a broader effort to secure access to Congo’s mineral wealth. He is calling on the international community to impose sanctions on the Rwandan government and demand the immediate withdrawal of its forces from Congolese territory.
The conflict in eastern Congo has left thousands of civilians displaced and created fertile ground for human rights abuses. But Mukwege argues the violence cannot be separated from the economics of mineral extraction. Congo holds some of the world’s largest reserves of coltan and cobalt, both critical to the production of renewable energy technologies. As demand for these minerals skyrockets, Mukwege warns that the global energy transition risks being built on the suffering of the Congolese people.
“The minerals powering the energy transition must not come at the cost of human lives,” he said.
