The key facts

  • Erik Prince, founder of Blackwater, is linked by researchers and sources to PMC operations in DR Congo; contract with the finance ministry worth $100–200 million (2024)
  • UN: Kisangani has become a hub for private military companies operating Chinese CH-4 drones, striking M23 positions
  • Foreign paramilitaries of various nationalities are present; who hires them has not been officially confirmed

Prince — a key player in the Congolese conflict

American businessman Erik Prince, founder of Blackwater — a military contractor whose employees were convicted of atrocities in Iraq — has become, according to researchers and local sources, a key player in war-torn DR Congo. His forces, it is reported, support poorly armed government troops in the fight against the M23 group, while the US seeks access to the country's strategic minerals. An investigation by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC), published in October 2026, states that Prince has 'established himself as a key player in the politico-security economy of DR Congo' and built a 'business-as-security' model 'unprecedented for the region.' Officials do not always know exactly who hires foreign military personnel, but sources frequently name Prince, who is close to US President Donald Trump.

Contract with the finance ministry and operations against M23

In 2024, Prince signed a contract with the finance ministry of DR Congo worth between 100 and 200 million dollars. Officially, the deal was aimed at protecting mining facilities, improving tax collection and combating cross-border mineral smuggling, GI-TOC reports. According to the same report, Prince's group is said to have supported Congolese special operations forces and army units during the January 2026 operation to retake Uvira — a major city in South Kivu temporarily captured by M23 — using drone surveillance and other technical assistance. The New York Times reported on two paramilitaries working for the billionaire — a New Zealander and a former US special forces soldier: the New Zealander was killed and the American was wounded in an ambush in that area in September. Prince's interests in the country are represented by the companies Vectus Global and Quantum Global Consulting, whose executives keep a low profile. Prince and Vectus Global did not respond to AFP inquiries.

Foreign contractors and the hub in Kisangani

After M23 seized the eastern capital Goma in January 2025, the group's forces filmed hundreds of Romanian paramilitaries leaving the country through Rwanda. A mediation agreement between DR Congo and Rwanda, brokered by the US and intended to end hostilities in exchange for US access to minerals, has stabilized the front line, but the conflict is not resolved; drones play an important role. According to a UN experts' report, after the paramilitaries' failures in the face of Rwandan reinforcements for M23, the government terminated its contract with the French-led PMC Agemira, and its former personnel were transferred to Kisangani. UN experts reported that Kisangani has become a new hub for the deployment of private military companies which, in particular, operate Chinese CH-4 drones that regularly strike M23 positions. The experts did not name the companies, but sources link the hub to Prince. A source close to the situation told AFP that housing for several thousand such personnel has been built in Kisangani. The report also mentions South American military contractors spotted at the Kisangani airfield — the party that hired them has not been identified.

A motley mix of mercenaries and an unclear structure

According to sources in the security services and some of the foreigners themselves, paramilitaries including Ukrainians, Israelis, South Africans and Algerians are operating in the country. In the southeastern city of Kalemie, strategically located halfway between M23-held territories and the region's mining belt, Western men are noticeable at the hotel pool; they introduced themselves to AFP as pilots or instructors, in some cases former special forces soldiers, some having previously fought as mercenaries in other African conflicts and openly expressing American alt-right views. A Congolese army official, speaking on condition of anonymity, insisted that the paramilitaries are not combatants, but gave no details; he acknowledged that even DR Congo's military has difficulty navigating the opaque network of private military companies. Residents of Kalemie and militiamen, for their part, were sure of one thing: the 'Americans' are fighting on the side of DR Congo.