The president of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) said Monday that a peace deal with Rwanda aimed at ending decades of violence in the eastern DRC paves the way for “a new era of stability”.
“This agreement signed by the foreign ministers of our two countries during a solemn ceremony presided by the US Secretary of State Mr Marco Rubio... opens the way to a new era of stability, cooperation and prosperity for our nation,” Felix Tshisekedi said in a speech broadcast Monday to mark the 65th anniversary of DRC’s independence from Belgium.
Earlier, Rubio posted a photograph on X (formerly Twitter) at the signing of the peace agreement between the two nations.
Massad Boulos, President Donald Trump's senior advisor on Africa, said the deal included the "lifting of defensive measures by Rwanda.’’
Last month, Washington announced that a peace deal between the two countries will see US and Western companies invest billions into mines in DRC, infrastructure projects in both countries, including processing minerals in Rwanda.
While Kigali and Kinshasa both credited US mediation for helping bring them back to the negotiating table, the question remains: what does Washington gain from brokering this peace deal?
The conflict
The DRC–Rwanda conflict is rooted in ethnic rivalries, resource struggles, and regional politics, particularly around the M23 rebel group, which Kinshasa accuses Kigali of backing. Rwanda denies this.
According to analysts and diplomats, Rwanda sent at least 7,000 soldiers over the border in support of the M23 rebels, who seized eastern DRC’s two largest cities and lucrative mining areas in a lightning advance earlier this year.
The gains by M23, the latest cycle in a decades-old conflict with roots in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, sparked fears that a wider war could draw in DRC’s neighbours, Reuters reported.
Since 1996, the conflict in eastern DRC has led to approximately six million deaths, according to the UN Council on Foreign Relations. Currently, more than seven million people are displaced in the country.
Securing minerals
Central Africa is home to some of the world’s richest deposits of cobalt, lithium, and coltan — all essential for the clean energy transition, electric vehicles, and digital technologies.
According to a 2022 report by Foreign Policy, more than 70 percent of the world’s cobalt comes from the DRC, often mined under horrific conditions.
For the US and its allies, securing access to these minerals is the need of the hours, especially as China has established dominance over much of the DRC’s mining infrastructure.
The DRC–Rwanda deal also offers Washington a much-needed foreign policy success in Africa, where China and Russia are rapidly expanding their influence through economic and security partnerships.
Though the deal is being celebrated, skepticism remains as there is little detail on monitoring mechanisms or how rebel groups will be dealt with.
