 Soon after the arrival of the Belgian government in exile in London , negotiations began between the Belgians and the British about the role which the Congo would play in the Allied war effort . The British were determined that the Congo should not fall into Axis hands , and planned to invade and occupy the colony if the Belgians did not come to an arrangement . This was particularly because , after the fall of Dutch and British colonies in the Far East to Japan , the Allies were desperate for raw materials like rubber which the Congo could produce in abundance . Eventually , the two parties came to an arrangement in which virtually all the British demands were accepted , including a 30 percent devaluation of the Congolese franc . 
