The recent firefight in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has drawn renewed attention to the involvement of American military contractor Erik Prince in the region’s ongoing conflict. The clash, which took place last month in the Congo highlands, involved government forces battling the M23 rebel group, backed by Rwanda, and resulted in casualties among Prince’s contracted mercenaries.
Among those injured was Tim Kennedy, a former U.S. Green Beret known for his mixed martial arts career and media appearances, who was shot multiple times during the fighting. An elite ex-soldier from New Zealand, Justin Conaglen, was killed in the ambush. Both men had been employed by Prince’s operations in Congo, specifically under his company Vectus Global which manages security and mining-related contracts in the country.
Erik Prince, founder of the private military firm Blackwater Worldwide, has expanded his activities in Congo following a broad agreement signed in late 2024 between the Congolese government, led by President Félix Tshisekedi, and the United States. This agreement aimed to provide preferential access for American mining interests, part of Washington’s strategy to counter China’s dominance over critical minerals like cobalt. Prince’s contract with the DRC reportedly spans five years and is worth several hundred million dollars.
Prince’s company has supplied drone pilots—contracted from Colombia and Ukraine—and mercenaries to support Congolese forces against M23 and to help secure key locations such as the city of Uvira. Additionally, his operations include an anticorruption and tax recovery initiative targeting widespread mining fraud that costs Congo an estimated $3 billion annually. This effort, led by a former French Foreign Legion member, seeks to digitize mining records to reduce resource theft attributed to criminal syndicates, including Chinese companies operating in the sector.
Despite these efforts, Prince’s role in Congo has sparked debate and skepticism. Critics inside and outside the private military industry argue that his mercenary ventures have frequently failed and that his presence may exacerbate local instability. Sean McFate, a former contractor and fellow at the Atlantic Council, has noted a reputation among mercenaries for Prince’s lack of successful missions in Africa. Observers also cite the weak capacity of Congo’s national army as a driver behind the reliance on foreign contractors.
Prince himself has publicly embraced a controversial posture, calling for renewed American imperial involvement in African countries, and has suggested that the U.S. should assume a more assertive role. Such rhetoric has drawn concerns about neocolonialism amid Congo’s long and complex history with foreign mercenaries and international interventions dating back to the 1960s and the assassination of Patrice Lumumba.
Following the September ambush, Prince’s team arranged medical evacuations for Kennedy, who was flown from Congo to treatment centers in Burundi, South Africa, and eventually the United States, where he is currently recovering. The Pentagon declined comments on the incident, and representatives for Kennedy and Prince’s company have also remained largely silent.
While the Congolese government has faced criticism for outsourcing parts of the conflict to private forces, it has justified the decision as necessary against a growing and well-supported rebel threat. Prince’s operations continue to extend beyond military support, including talks for a possible $200 million contract to protect DRC’s air force assets. American officials emphasize that Prince’s activities are private ventures with no official U.S. government backing, though his political connections, including past donations to former President Trump and family ties to former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, are widely recognized.
As Congo’s conflict persists, the involvement of foreign mercenaries like those employed by Erik Prince remains a contentious element in the country’s security landscape, raising questions about sovereignty, effectiveness, and the long-term impacts on the local population.