KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of the Congo — “Why do U.S. officials plot how to climb through a window when the door is opened to them?” a Congolese politician asked me over dinner in Congo’s chaotic capital, Africa’s third largest city. During my week’s visit, talking to a cross-section of political leaders, civil society leaders, and businessmen, his was a common sentiment.

With almost one-quarter the territory of the United States and about one-third the population, the Democratic Republic of Congo is an African behemoth and the continent’s keystone: After China, Russia, and Brazil, it also has the largest number of neighbors. For decades, Congo was synonymous with chaos; it remains beset with corruption. Mobutu Sese Soku, a U.S. Cold War ally, ran the country into the ground. Two wars between 1996 and 2003 devastated the country further, leading to the deaths of more than 5 million.

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Neighboring states and regional militias extracted the country’s vast resources to fund their operations. Businessmen struck deals with whomever the local power brokers might be across the border, irrespective of the government in Kinshasa. On paper, Congo should be among Africa’s richest states. Its mineral resources are huge, worth an estimated $24 trillion. Its uranium made the Manhattan Project possible. It has tremendous diamond, gold, and copper resources, and it possesses half of the world’s cobalt, a crucial component in lithium batteries that power electric vehicles.

For American businesses, insecurity and corruption outweighed the promise of vast profits. Congo’s total exports to the United States represent less money than a Beverly Hills mansion. Over the past decade, China has been much less reticent, and it faced little competition. Practically speaking, former President Barack Obama’s interest in Africa never much exceeded an occasional mention of his Kenyan roots. Former President Donald Trump, meanwhile, dismissed the continent as made up of “s***hole countries” in which he had no interest. It was during this time that China began snatching rights to Congo’s cobalt reserves. Analysts estimate worldwide cobalt demand will increase twentyfold over the next two decades.

From the point of U.S. national security, it was not simply negligence but surrender. CMOC, one of China’s largest mining firms with a huge presence in molybdenum and tungsten extraction, bought its stake in one massive cobalt deposit from an American company that let its contract lapse.

It may not be too late for Washington. Congolese, like many Africans, are frustrated with China. When Beijing invests, it brings its own labor, builds exclusionary compounds that deny trickle-down benefit to the local market, and ships the profits back to China. Chinese leaders also promote corruption. Upon signing a contract, they pay their money without concern about where it may go. Too many African leaders have looked at this as an invitation to embezzle.

China’s disinterest in good governance is its weakness. In January 2019, Felix Tshisekedi took over the presidency from Joseph Kabila in Congo’s country’s first peaceful transfer of power. As Tshisekedi learned the details of Kabila’s cobalt deals, he grew upset. CMOC allegedly misreported reserves and failed to pay $7.6 billion in interest and royalties. Congo also complained CMOC broke its pledge to build infrastructure for the country. Tshisekedi forced China to renegotiate,
and while the two sides reached a compromise in April, bitterness remains. Congolese remain uneasy. They want balance.

Reinvesting in Congo should be a bipartisan no-brainer. It insulates American supply chains on critical components. It stabilizes a country that struggles to emerge from decades of instability. It enables Kinshasa to resist Chinese blackmail.

While rolling back China’s cornering of the cobalt market will be an uphill struggle, Washington should be proactive on other commodities. Earlier this month, for example, Beijing reduced exports of gallium and germanium, both critical to semiconductor and electronics manufacture. Congo has germanium reserves but needs external help to extract and purify it. The Development Finance Corporation, Department of Commerce, and State Department should be in overdrive to get American business into Congo. If they try, they may find an open door while China is scratching at the window.

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Michael Rubin (@mrubin1971) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner's Beltway Confidential blog. He is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.