Critical Minerals Driving Renewable Energy Growth

(MENAFN- Swissinfo) The energy transition is fueling demand for critical minerals, straining transparency of supply chains. A UN report warns that minerals extracted from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) financing war are making their way illegally into the global market. This content was published on September 17, 2025 - 09:00 8 minutes

I write original and in-depth data-driven articles using my skills in data analysis and visualisation. I cover a wide array of topics, among which are Switzerland's place in global trade, climate change and demographics. Born and raised in France, I studied international relations in Lyon, then graduated from Lille journalism school in 2011. I have been living in Switzerland since 2012 and worked at RTS for eight years before joining SWI swissinfo in 2020.

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Annegret Mathari

Critical minerals, those that are necessary for renewable energy technologies, such as coltan or tantalum, a metal extracted from coltan, are used in most of our daily electronic devices such as mobile phones or computers. They are also found in batteries of electric vehicles.

Their use has surged due to the energy transition and the growing use of wind and solar in the global energy mix. The International Energy Agency estimates demand to double between 2024 and 2030 and says it could even triple or quadruple by that date if countries meet all their national climate and energy goals.

At the center of this scramble for resources is the Democratic Republic of Congo, a central African country the size of Western Europe. It supplies much of the world's coltan and is also a major source of cobalt, copper, diamonds, gold, and tin.

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The country's vast resources have long fueled conflict - both among ethnic groups and with its neighbours for more than 30 years. Today, control over critical minerals is at the heart of the regional struggle. Rebel groups occupy mines, seize resources, and smuggle them into the global supply chain.

“The smuggling of minerals from eastern DRC into neighboring Rwanda has reached unprecedented levels,” UN experts stated in a report published in July 2025 to the UN Security Council.

As a result, commodity traders must increasingly verify whether extracted resources are minerals extracted from the conflict zone and whose proceeds fund the war. In that case trading such minerals would be illicit. It is the responsibility of traders to ensure their supply chains are clean.

Smuggling into Rwanda

Earlier this year, the Congolese rebel group M23, supported by neighboring Rwanda, extended their presence and control in the DRC through a new offensive that began in late 2024 and captured large areas in eastern part of the country including Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, and then Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province.

Goma lies on the border with Rwanda and on the shores of Lake Kivu. It is a key trade and transport hub within reach of mining towns that supply among others coltan.

The Rubaya mine, in the hands of the rebels since April last year, lies about 50 kilometers northwest of Goma, and produces around 15% of the world's supply, according to the UN.

The militia now has control over several mining areas, trade centers, and transport routes for minerals in North Kivu. According to UN reports, it has established a parallel administration since 2024 to manage the trade and transport of minerals from the Rubaya mine to Rwanda.

“Evidence points to an increasing risk of cross-border fraud, as minerals from North Kivu - particularly coltan from the M23-controlled Rubaya mine-continue to be smuggled into Rwanda,” the July 2025 report to the UN Security Council said.

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M23 finances itself largely through coltan mining. As early as December 2024, UN experts noted that since taking over Rubaya, M23 was earning at least $800,000 per month generated from taxing the production of 120 tonnes of coltan and its trade. According to the US Geological Survey, around 60% of global tantalum production in 2024 came from Congo and Rwanda.

After capturing Goma and Bukavu, M23 began smuggling so-called 3T minerals (tin, tantalum, and tungsten) across the main borders into Rwanda, according to the UN report. In the last week of March 2025 alone, M23 reportedly smuggled 195 tonnes of 3T minerals from Goma into Rwanda.

Supply chain integrity at risk

“The illegal trade has jeopardized the (legal) exports of tin, tantalum, and tungsten from the region,” the report states. In Rwanda, the stolen minerals are mixed with local production and passed off as Rwandan-origin materials in downstream supply chains. According to UN experts, this threatens the integrity and credibility of global mineral traceability.

To conceal the export of smuggled minerals from Congo, Rwandan authorities inflate figures for domestic production of tantalum, tin, and tungsten, the report says. According to the UN Comtrade database, Rwanda exports more tantalum than it produces. In 2024, the country officially produced 350 tonnes of tantalum but exported an estimated 715 tons - more than twice as much.

External Content Rwanda's army involved in fighting

UN experts also pointed out that the Rwandan army played a“decisive role” in M23's expansion and occupation of new territories.

Rwanda has long denied supporting M23, claiming its forces act in self-defense against the Congolese army and ethnic Hutu militias linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide. But according to UN experts, Rwanda's military support for M23 is aimed at“capturing more territory.”

In June, the DRC signed a peace agreement with Rwanda – not with the M23 militia. The deal was brokered by US president Donald Trump and signed in Washington.

This makes it even more difficult for Rwanda to deny its involvement in the conflict.

Human Rights Watch explicitly warned that the deal appears to be“primarily a mineral deal and only secondarily a chance for peace”.

Conflict coltan in the EU?

Mineral trade under the control of armed groups as M23 mean these minerals ineligible for trade, according to the UN experts.

“There is a high risk that coltan traded from Rwanda was smuggled from the DRC or originates from conflict zones,” Robert Bachmann, a raw materials expert at the Swiss organisation Public Eye, told Swissinfo. The UN expert report calls for independent geological verification of raw materials exported from Rwanda.

International guidelines such as the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected Areas call for a multi-stage approach to ensure that companies adequately fulfil their due diligence obligations.

There are signs that minerals from the conflict have entered the European Union. An investigation published in April 2025 by the organisation Global Witness found that international commodity trader Traxys, based in Luxembourg, purchased 280 tons of coltan from Rwanda in 2024.

“It appears the EU has failed to implement effective safeguards. It should immediately terminate its raw materials partnership with Rwanda,” said Alex Kopp, campaign director at Global Witness, in a statement. In February 2024, the EU signed a strategic partnership with Rwanda to secure better access to critical raw materials from Rwanda, including coltan and tantalum.

One year later, in February 2025 the European Parliament slammed insufficient action to address the crisis in the DRC's east and asked for the suspension of the agreement.

Kaja Kallas, the EU's top diplomat has since vowed that the minerals agreement will be reviewed.

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