The Africa Museum in Tervuren, Belgium, a museum dedicated to the country's colonial history in Africa, is at the center of a dispute over access to its historical geological records from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Congolese government and KoBold Metals, a mining company backed by billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, are seeking access to these documents, which detail rich mineral deposits, as part of a deal to digitize them and explore for critical minerals like lithium and cobalt.
The situation highlights the ongoing legacy of colonialism, where a European institution holds records of resources from its former colony that are now crucial for the global green energy transition. The museum, originally founded to showcase the plundered wealth of the Congo under King Leopold II, is caught between modern commercial interests, post-colonial restitution efforts, and its own problematic history, which includes a recent renovation aimed at confronting its colonial past.