Following a faltering peace deal between the DRC and Rwanda, the American mining company Kobold Metals signed an agreement with the Congolese government to digitise geoscientific archives. However, the Africa Museum refused to cooperate, stating that it cannot enter into an agreement with a private company that has a direct commercial interest in the material.
The museum's geological archives contain more than 264,000 aerial photographs, 25,000 maps, 160,000 rock samples and millions of documents mapping the mineral resources of the DRC. Much of this data was collected during the colonial period, when some European geologists relied on unrecognised indigenous knowledge and labour. The rising demand for critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt and copper has revived commercial interest in the records.
The situation raises fundamental questions about ownership and accessibility. Critics, including Jean Claude Mputu of Resource Matters, question why this data is still not in the hands of the Congolese state sixty years after independence. Researchers are calling for digital repatriation and public accessibility of the archives, while the Africa Museum is working on digitisation alongside African partners under the EU's PanAfGeo+ programme — but the question remains as to whose interests this will ultimately serve.
