Us sanctions Rwandan firm over illegal gold trade funding DRC rebels

The United States Treasury on Thursday, June 25, announced sanctions against a Rwandan enterprise and its director, alleging they transported and resold gold illegally mined in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to finance the M23 rebel group.

According to the Treasury Department, Gasabo Gold Refinery and its owner, Jean Malic Kalima, “were a key partner for Rwandan government officials and M23 rebels, for whom they extracted and moved gold out of eastern DRC.”

“The United States will not allow outlaw groups to profit from illicit mineral trade…”

American officials stated that Rwandan soldiers and M23 fighters coordinated the security of gold shipments to the Congolese city of Bukavu, near the Rwandan border, and then onward to Gasabo’s headquarters in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital.

“In early 2026, 60 kilograms of gold, worth millions of dollars, were moved from eastern DRC to Gasabo using this method,” the Treasury Department said in a statement.

“The United States will not allow outlaw groups to profit from illicit mineral trade to destabilize the region. The DRC’s mineral wealth legitimately belongs to the Congolese people,” defended Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, quoted in the release.

The US sanctions freeze all assets held directly or indirectly by the targeted individuals and companies within the United States. They also prohibit American businesses and citizens from trading with them, as well as foreign firms with US subsidiaries or those using the dollar in transactions.

M23 earns substantial revenue through a tax on mineral production and trade

Since its resurgence in late 2021, the anti-government M23 group (March 23 Movement), backed by Kigali and the Rwandan army, has seized vast territories in eastern DRC, a region rich in natural resources and ravaged by conflict for three decades.

A June report by non-profit Global Witness highlighted that hundreds of tons of coltan were looted in eastern DRC by the armed group and laundered in Rwanda before being exported to smelters supplying electronics giants.

The M23 captured the mining town of Rubaya in April 2024, which supplies 15% of the world’s coltan, a mineral critical for electronics manufacturing. The armed group derives significant income from a tax levied on mineral production and trade, and around 120 tons of coltan were shipped monthly to Rwanda between May and October 2024, according to UN experts.

By Claire Mvondo — Security and State Policy Expert