Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo have signed a peace deal in Washington aimed at ending decades of devastating conflict between the two neighbours, and potentially granting the US lucrative mineral access.
The deal demands the “disengagement, disarmament and conditional integration” of armed groups fighting in eastern DR Congo.
Further details are scant and previous peace deals in the region have failed – yet that has not deterred the US and Congolese presidents from framing this as a generational victory.
“This is a great day for Africa and… a great day for the world!,” wrote President Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform last week when an initial agreement was reached.
“Another diplomatic success for President Félix Tshisekedi – certainly the most important in over 30 years,” said the Congolese president’s office ahead of Friday’s signing.
The deal was signed by the Congolese and Rwandan foreign ministers at the US State Department.
There has been talk of Tshisekedi and Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame going to Washington to meet Trump together, though no date has been fixed.
Decades of conflict escalated earlier this year when M23 rebels seized control of large parts of eastern DR Congo including the regional capital, Goma, the city of Bukavu and two airports.
Thousands of people have been killed and hundreds of thousands of civilians forced from their homes following the recent rebel offensive.
After the loss of territory, the government in Kinshasa turned to the US for help, reportedly offering access to critical minerals in exchange for security guarantees. Eastern DR Congo is rich in coltan and other resources vital to the global electronics industries.
Rwanda denies supporting the M23 despite overwhelming evidence, and insists its military presence in the region is a defensive measure against threats posed by armed groups like the FDLR – a rebel militia composed largely of ethnic Hutus linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
Rwanda in turn accuses the Congolese government of backing the FDLR, which is denied by DR Congo. Their presence is of utmost concern to Kigali.
When some information about the deal was released last week, a statement spoke of “provisions on respect for territorial integrity and a prohibition of hostilities”, but there were no specifics.
It also talked about the “facilitation of the return of refugees and internally displaced persons”.
According to a Reuters news agency report, Congolese negotiators had pushed for an immediate withdrawal of Rwandan soldiers, but Rwanda – which has at least 7,000 troops on Congolese soil – refused.
In an angry statement a day before the deal was signed, Rwanda’s Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe condemned “the leak of a draft peace agreement” saying Rwanda had “demanded the other parties to respect the confidentiality of the discussions”.
The calls for the total withdrawal of Rwandan troops from DR Congo is major point of contention.
But Nduhungirehe said “the words ‘Rwanda Defense Force’, ‘Rwandan troops’ or ‘withdrawal’ are nowhere to be seen in the document”.
Just hours before the signing ceremony, Tshisekedi’s office said the agreement “does indeed provide for the withdrawal of Rwandan troops… [but] preferred the term disengagement to withdrawal simply because ‘disengagement’ is more comprehensive”.
Unless and until full details of the signed deal are made public, several crucial questions remain unanswered:
- Will the M23 rebel group withdraw from areas they have occupied?
- Does “respect for territorial integrity” mean Rwanda admits having troops in eastern DR Congo and will withdraw them?
- Would the agreed “return of refugees” allow thousands of Congolese back from Rwanda?
- Does “disarmament” mean that the M23 will now lay down their weapons?
- Who will disarm the FDLR, after the failure of several previous attempts?
- Would the agreed humanitarian access allow the reopening of the rebel-held airports for aid supply?
Prior to Friday’s signing, Rwandan government spokeswoman Yolande Makolo told Reuters news agency that the “lifting of defensive measures in our border area” would be contingent upon the FDLR’s “neutralisation”.
One of the main actors in today’s conflict – the M23 rebels – were spawned by a previous peace deal 16 years ago that failed to ensure demobilisation.
Last year, Rwandan and Congolese experts reached an agreement twice under Angolan mediation on the withdrawal of Rwandan troops and joint operations against the FDLR – but ministers from both countries failed to endorse the deal. Angola eventually stepped down as a mediator in March.