Germany announced on Tuesday that it had suspended new development aid to Rwanda and was reassessing its existing commitments due to Rwanda’s involvement in the ongoing conflict in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.
The German development ministry stated that Rwanda had been informed of the decision in advance and was urged to end its support for the M23 rebel group, which has been making territorial gains in eastern Congo.
Congo, along with U.N. experts and Western governments, has accused Rwanda of backing the rebel group—a claim Rwanda denies. Instead, Kigali asserts that it is protecting itself from ethnic Hutu-led militias operating in Congo, which it says pose a direct threat to Rwanda and the Tutsi population.
Rwanda’s foreign ministry condemned Germany’s decision, calling it “wrong and counterproductive.”
“Countries like Germany that bear a historical responsibility for the recurring instability in this region should know better than to apply one-sided, coercive measures,” the ministry said in a statement released late Tuesday.
Germany last committed 93.6 million euros ($98 million) in aid to Rwanda in October 2022 for the 2022–2024 period, according to the development ministry.
Since January, the M23 rebel group has seized large areas of eastern Congo, including key mineral-rich territories.
The escalating conflict is the most serious flare-up in a longstanding crisis that traces its origins to the aftermath of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide and the struggle for control over Congo’s vast mineral resources.
