Today we’re featuring a fascinating conversation with the Congolese analyst Christian-Geraud Neema Byamungu about recent developments in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In case you haven’t been following this story, the last few weeks saw a flurry of social media videos showing Congolese workers being whipped and otherwise mistreated on Chinese work sites. This may or may not have anything to do with the fact that the DRC government is reexamining earlier resources-for-infrastructure loan contracts with Chinese companies. And it may or may not be linked with geopolitical pressure growing around the issue of foreign access to Congolese mineral resources, especially cobalt and other minerals linked to batteries for electric vehicles.