The Democratic Republic of the Congo is moving forward with plans to expand the export of its copper and other critical minerals to Gulf partners, underpinning a broad set of agreements that bring together African producers, United States-backed investment vehicles and Gulf Arab markets.

In recent weeks the Congolese government and external partners have signed multiple memoranda and economic pacts that set the stage for increased flows of Congolese copper and related cargoes to destinations in the United Arab Emirates and potentially Saudi Arabia, as part of a strategic effort to diversify routes to market and secure long-term investment.

On February two, leaders from the DRC and the UAE signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement that aims to double bilateral trade to ten billion dollars by 2030 and includes cooperation in mining and investment frameworks designed to facilitate the export of Congolese minerals and value-added goods into UAE markets.

Congolese exporters will gain preferential access for thousands of products, and agreements signed in Abu Dhabi also contemplate cooperation on port and logistics projects that could strengthen maritime supply chains for copper and other commodities.

The partnership pacts cover a port development project with DP World and coordinated mining industry investment, reflecting Kigali’s and Abu Dhabi’s shared objective of enhancing supply chain resilience and traceability.

In parallel, a landmark non-binding agreement between global commodities group Glencore and the U.S.-backed Orion Critical Mineral Consortium — which includes investment from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation and Abu Dhabi’s sovereign fund ADQ — envisages Orion acquiring a forty percent stake in two of Congo’s most important copper and cobalt assets, Mutanda Mining and Kamoto Copper Company.

This deal would give the consortium rights to market its share of production, effectively enabling Congolese copper and cobalt to enter Western and Gulf supply chains under a framework designed to diversify sources of critical minerals for energy transition and industrial applications.

Congolese officials have also indicated intentions to present a catalogue of investment opportunities to U.S. partners this week, building on the strategic minerals agreement signed with Washington in December 2025. These overtures are aligned with broader national policy to attract capital for mining, infrastructure and transport corridors that can deliver Congolese minerals efficiently to global customers, including in the Middle East.

While neither a formal shipping programme nor confirmed direct export contracts to Saudi Arabia have been publicly announced, the constellation of economic and mining agreements involving Gulf partners and U.S.-backed investors creates commercial pathways by which Congolese copper could increasingly be shipped to the UAE and Saudi markets.

The evolving arrangements reflect Kinshasa’s determined push to tie its resource wealth to diversified export routes, global strategic investors and emerging demand from energy, defence and technology sectors around the world.