Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi said Monday that a new peace agreement between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) opened the door for “a new era of stability,” which aims to end decades of fighting in the eastern DRC.
The eastern part of the vast, resource-rich DRC, particularly abundant in lucrative minerals, has been ravaged by deadly violence for three decades.
Fighting intensified earlier this year when the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group seized significant territory, including the key cities of Goma in late January and Bukavu weeks later. This rapid offensive near Rwanda’s border resulted in thousands of deaths and exacerbated a humanitarian crisis for hundreds of thousands of displaced people, according to the DRC government and the UN.
After numerous broken truces, ceasefires, and failed negotiations, Congolese and Rwandan foreign ministers formally signed a peace agreement in Washington on Friday.
A parallel mediation effort between the DRC government and the M23, led by Qatar, is also ongoing.
A Qatari representative attended the signing, which the African Union and the United Nations have hailed as a significant step towards peace.
Credit: Daily Nigerian
In a speech marking the DRC’s 65th anniversary of independence from Belgium on Monday, President Tshisekedi declared that the agreement “opens the way to a new era of stability, cooperation, and prosperity for our nation.”
Tshisekedi is scheduled to meet with Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame in Washington in the coming weeks.
The agreement includes provisions for “respect for territorial integrity and halting hostilities” in eastern DRC, which are yet to be implemented. It also calls for “a lifting of defensive measures” by Rwanda, effectively the withdrawal of Rwandan soldiers from the DRC.
Rwanda has consistently denied directly supporting the M23 but has demanded an end to the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), an armed group it views as a threat, established by ethnic Hutus linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide’s massacres of Tutsis. The agreement mandates Kinshasa to “neutralise” the FDLR.
While the deal includes some economic measures, details remain sparse. In April, the Congolese president discussed a mining agreement with Massad Boulos, a Lebanese-American businessman and senior advisor on Africa to President Trump.
A “regional economic integration framework” aimed at increasing transparency in critical mineral supply chains is also envisioned. Congolese government spokesman Patrick Muyaya affirmed on Saturday that Kinshasa would not “sell off any of the DRC’s interests.”
The DRC is the world’s leading producer of cobalt and holds significant deposits of gold and other valuable minerals like coltan, essential for modern electronics.
President Tshisekedi emphasised the human impact of the deal, stating, “This deal is not just a document; it is a promise of peace for the people affected by the conflict.”
The agreement, negotiated through Qatar even before Trump took office, does not explicitly address the M23 anti-government group’s territorial gains.
The M23, like the pro-Kinshasa militias it fights, has never officially recognised previous ceasefires. Although the front line in eastern DRC has stabilised since February, conflict persists between M23 fighters and various local militias employing guerrilla tactics.
Corneille Nangaa, coordinator of the Congo River Alliance (which includes the M23), dismissed the Washington agreement on Monday as “limited” and accused Kinshasa of “systematically” undermining the Doha mediation process.
