Regional mediators assess eastern DRC peace efforts in Lomé

On 7 and 8 June 2026, the Togolese capital hosted a strategic meeting focused on the crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Around the table sat representatives of the main regional mediation architectures: 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 objective: to evaluate the coherence of diplomatic tracks and measure the distance still separating the belligerents from a lasting settlement.

Lomé, a hub for fragmented mediation

The choice of Togo as a rallying point is far from trivial. Faure Gnassingbé, designated AU facilitator for the Congolese dossier, has been striving for months to unite parallel initiatives that have multiplied without always converging. The Nairobi process, led by the EAC, and the Luanda process, conducted under AU auspices and long embodied by Angola’s João Lourenço, have advanced in a disjointed manner. The progressive merging of these tracks, initiated in 2024, has yet to deliver the expected results on the ground.

Diplomats present in Lomé acknowledged that coordination remains the Achilles’ heel of the peace effort. Several speakers stressed the need to streamline dialogue channels to prevent protagonists from playing one mediation against another. This fragmentation has long benefited armed actors, foremost the March 23 Movement (M23), whose military advance in North Kivu and South Kivu has redrawn the region’s security map.

A tense timetable between Kinshasa, Kigali and the M23

The diplomatic progress discussed during the Togolese meeting remains modest compared to expectations. Direct talks between Kinshasa and the M23, long refused 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 reminded that implementation of previous commitments, particularly the withdrawal of foreign forces from Congolese territory and the cantonment of armed groups, is worryingly 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 dimensions extend far beyond security.

A war economy complicating the exit from crisis

Beyond the political dimension, participants highlighted the urgency of tackling illicit exploitation circuits of Kivu’s mineral resources. Coltan, tin, gold and tungsten fuel a war economy whose ramifications reach into international supply chains. Several mediators advocate for a regional traceability mechanism, considered an indispensable condition for any sustainable de-escalation.

The Lomé meeting did not result in spectacular announcements, but it reaffirmed the principle of an integrated approach. Next steps should more closely involve Congolese civilian 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 essential relays to anchor any eventual agreement in the reality of affected territories.

Nevertheless, mediators left the Togolese capital without a firm timetable for signing a comprehensive agreement. The coming weeks will tell whether the diplomatic momentum initiated in Lomé will suffice to alter the trajectory of a conflict that, for over three decades, has defied all peace architectures built around the Great Lakes.