The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has launched a sweeping de-dollarisation strategy aimed at cutting off financial flows to M23 rebel groups and combating systematic money laundering that has long destabilised the Congolese franc, government officials confirmed this week.
The initiative, announced by the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Congo, will progressively restrict the use of US dollars in domestic transactions across the mining, trade, and informal sectors — areas where hard currency has long dominated, facilitating anonymous and untraceable financial movements that armed groups have exploited for years.
The link between dollar dominance and rebel financing
For decades, the DRC’s mining heartlands — particularly in the eastern provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu, and Ituri — have operated in a near-total dollarised environment. Coltan, cobalt, and gold extracted from artisanal mines flow through supply chains that rarely touch the formal banking system. This has allowed armed groups, including the M23 rebellion, to launder proceeds through physical cash movements across borders with Rwanda and Uganda.
President Félix Tshisekedi’s administration argues that closing the dollar loophole is essential to strangling the financial oxygen that has sustained M23’s military campaigns. Every dollar that moves freely through our informal networks is a bullet purchased, a checkpoint funded, said a senior finance ministry official who requested anonymity.
US sanctions on Joseph Kabila deepen the pressure
The de-dollarisation push comes just days after the United States Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned former president Joseph Kabila, accusing him of maintaining financial and logistical ties to M23 commanders. The sanctions freeze any US-held assets and prohibit American entities from transacting with Kabila or his associates.
The OFAC designation marks a significant escalation in the international community’s approach to the DRC conflict. Washington has previously targeted Rwandan officials and M23 leadership, but the inclusion of a former Congolese head of state signals that the sanctions net is widening to include domestic enablers of the rebellion.
Kabila, who governed the DRC from 2001 to 2019, was already sentenced to death in absentia by a Congolese court in September 2025 for complicity with M23. The new US measures compound his legal jeopardy and increase diplomatic isolation.
Currency reform and its practical challenges
The transition away from dollar dominance will not be straightforward. The Congolese franc has a long history of instability, prone to sharp depreciations that erode savings and discourage local investment. Many Congolese citizens instinctively prefer dollars for large transactions and store-of-value purposes, a habit forged by decades of hyperinflation.
The government plans to introduce a phased approach: mandatory conversion of large corporate and mining revenues into Congolese francs through licensed banks, restrictions on dollar-denominated contracts for public procurement, and incentives for traders to use the local currency. The central bank has pledged to maintain sufficient forex reserves to back the franc and prevent a collapse.
What this means for the mining sector
The DRC is the world’s largest cobalt producer and a major copper exporter. Its mining companies, many of them foreign-owned and operating in US dollar-denominated arrangements, will face significant adjustments. Some multinational miners have expressed concern about regulatory uncertainty, while smaller artisanal operators — who represent a substantial share of output — may struggle to comply with new currency reporting requirements.
Proponents of the reform argue that a more transparent, franc-denominated mining economy would eventually produce stronger state revenues and reduce the ability of armed groups to skim from the supply chain. You cannot tax what you cannot see, one economic adviser noted.
The M23 dimension
The timing of the de-dollarisation announcement coincides with renewed international attention on M23’s territorial advances. The rebel group, widely viewed as receiving backing from Rwanda, seized large swaths of North Kivu in late 2024 and 2025, displacing hundreds of thousands. A regional summit in Nairobi in February 2026 produced a ceasefire framework, but violations have continued.
By targeting the financial architecture that sustains M23, Kinshasa is hoping to apply sustained pressure that military alone cannot achieve. Whether the de-dollarisation plan can be implemented effectively in a conflict zone — where state authority is limited and cash remains king — remains the central question.
A broader signal to the region
The DRC’s move resonates beyond its borders. Several African economies, from Zimbabwe to Nigeria, have experimented with local currency promotion in the face of dollar dominance. The success or failure of Kinshasa’s approach will be closely watched by policymakers across the continent who face similar pressures to reduce reliance on hard currency and strengthen monetary sovereignty.
For now, the DRC is betting that financial discipline and sovereignty over its currency can become tools of national security as powerful as any military campaign.