Regional mediators assess peace efforts for eastern drc in Lomé
The togolese capital hosted a strategic meeting on June 7 and 8, 2026, dedicated to the crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Around the table were representatives of the main regional frameworks involved in mediation: the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the East African Community (EAC), the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), joined by envoys from the African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN). The stated goal: evaluate the coherence of diplomatic tracks and gauge the distance still separating the belligerents from a sustainable settlement.
Lomé as a hub for fragmented mediation efforts
The choice of Togo as the rallying point was no coincidence. Faure Gnassingbé, designated AU facilitator for the Congolese dossier, has been working for months to unify parallel initiatives that have multiplied without always converging. The Nairobi process, led by the EAC, and the Luanda process, under AU auspices and long driven by Angola’s João Lourenço, have advanced in a disjointed manner. The gradual merger of these tracks, initiated in 2024, has yet to deliver hoped-for results on the ground.
Diplomats in Lomé acknowledged that coordination remains the Achilles’ heel of the peace effort. Several participants stressed the need to streamline dialogue channels to prevent protagonists from playing one mediation against another. This fragmentation long benefited armed actors, foremost the March 23 Movement (M23), whose military advances in North Kivu and South Kivu have redrawn the region’s security map.
A tense timeline between Kinshasa, Kigali, and the M23
The diplomatic progress discussed at the Togolese meeting remains modest relative to expectations. Direct talks between Kinshasa and the M23, long rejected by Congolese authorities, have finally begun under combined pressure from regional mediators and international partners. Meanwhile, the bilateral track between the DRC and Rwanda—accused by the UN and several Western chancelleries of supporting the rebel movement—remains the most delicate political knot to untie.
Mediators noted that implementation of prior commitments, notably the withdrawal of foreign forces from Congolese territory and the cantonment of armed groups, is alarmingly behind schedule. The deployment of the SADC mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC), which suffered heavy human losses in early 2025, illustrated the limits of regional military responses to a conflict whose economic, land, and identity drivers extend far beyond the security realm.
A war economy complicating conflict resolution
Beyond the political dimension, participants highlighted the urgency of tackling illicit exploitation circuits for Kivu’s mineral resources. Coltan, tin, gold, and tungsten fuel a war economy whose ramifications extend to international supply chains. Several mediators advocate for a regional traceability mechanism, seen as essential for any lasting de-escalation.
The Lomé meeting did not yield spectacular announcements, but it reaffirmed the principle of an integrated approach. Next steps should more closely involve Congolese civil actors, long sidelined in processes dominated by heads of state and chancelleries. Civil society from North Kivu and South Kivu, along with customary authorities, are now identified as indispensable relays for anchoring any potential agreement in the reality of affected territories.
Still, mediators left the Togolese capital without a firm timetable for signing a comprehensive accord. The coming weeks will tell whether the diplomatic momentum generated in Lomé can alter the trajectory of a conflict that, for more than three decades, has defied all peace architectures built around the Great Lakes.
