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Trump officials to brief senators on African minerals

Senate lawmakers will question State Department officials this week about the Trump administration's strategy in Africa for securing resources from mineral-rich countries like the Congo and Rwanda. Jonathan Pratt, who's leading the Bureau of African Affairs, and Scott Woodard, acting deputy assistant secretary for economic growth, energy and environment, will appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health Policy. The hearing arrives on the heels of President Donald Trump inking a deal with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda to quell conflict in the region and allow the U.S. more access to cobalt and lithium deposits. Advertisement Shortly after the agreement was announced in June, KoBold Metals, a company backed by billionaire Bill Gates, finalized a deal to buy a massive lithium project in the DRC.