Hello, hello, welcome to your extra morning news show. My name is Philip

de Franco and today we're going to be talking about the recent elections in the

Democratic Republic of Congo. This is a story that doesn't just affect the people

there, the region there. I mean this has international implications that might even touch you and I.

For those that don't know the DRC is the largest nation in sub-Saharan Africa and is home to

more than 85 million people. And over the last few weeks the country has gone

through a major political change with world powers watching

developments on the ground very closely. In fact, President Trump even sent 80 troops to nearby

Gabon to potentially be deployed in the capital city of the DRC, with the official reason

being to support the security of United States

citizens, personnel, and diplomatic facilities and Kinshasa if

post-election violence spiraled out of control. But in addition to security concerns

countries from the United States to China are well aware that the nation sits on an estimated

24 trillion dollars worth of untapped mineral deposits, this including more than 60% of the world's

COBOLBOLBOLBOLT. And that's massively important because while COBOLT is probably not something that comes up in your everyday conversations, it is something in your everyday life.

It's the primary component of lithium ion batteries, which are used in everything from our laptops and cell phones to jet turbines and electric cars.

So whoever controls the COBOLBOLDIN the country has enormous influence over the global economy.

Now in order to understand the uncertainty surrounding the country's current volatile political situation,

we have to actually take a step back and

look at how we got here.

The DRC is actually a former Belgian colony that has experienced extreme violence and economic

exploitation by foreign and domestic powers for decades.

...