This will be accompanied by bilateral mineral deals that would bring billions of dollars of Western investment to the region, US President Donald Trump's Senior Advisor for Africa told Reuters this Thursday.

"When we sign the peace agreement the minerals deal with the DRC will be signed on that day, and then a similar package, but of a different size, will be signed on that day with Rwanda," Massad Boulos said in an interview in the Qatari capital, Doha.

A US-backed peace accord would come amid an unprecedented advance by Rwandan-backed M23 rebels in the DRC, the latest cycle of violence in a decades-long conflict, in a region rich in minerals including tantalum and gold. Rwanda denies backing the group.

Rwanda and DRC are expected to submit separate drafts of a peace agreement on Friday, according to a peace process agreed in Washington last week as part of diplomatic efforts to end violence in eastern DRC.

The DRC government did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.

In mid-May US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet in Washington with the Rwandan and DRC Foreign Ministers in an effort to agree on a final draft peace accord, Boulos said.

But before that accord can be signed, Boulos said, Rwanda and DRC must finalise bilateral economic agreements with Washington that will see US and Western companies invest billions of dollars in Congolese mines and infrastructure projects to support mining in both countries including the processing of minerals in Rwanda.

"The (agreement) with the DRC is at a much bigger scale, because it's a much bigger country and it has much more resources, but Rwanda also has a lot of resources and capacities and potential in the area of mining as well  not just the upstream, but also midstream and downstream to processing and refining and trading," Boulos said.

Boulos said US and Western companies have told Washington they would make multi-billon dollar investments in the region once the bilateral minerals deals are signed.

Boulos also said before the White House signing ceremony can go ahead, Washington expects both countries to address a number of security concerns. For example, Rwanda must pull its troops out of  DRC and end its support for M23 rebels. Congo must address Rwanda's security concerns with militias such as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).

Boulos said that on Wednesday a follow-up committee was appointed to monitor both countries' progress towards the peace deal, which includes the US, Qatar, France and Togo, which is representing the African Union.


--Reuters--