Regional mediators assess eastern DRC peace efforts in Lomé

The Togolese capital hosted a strategic meeting on June 7-8, 2026, focused on the crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Around the table were representatives of key regional mediation frameworks: 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: assess the coherence of diplomatic paths and measure the remaining distance between warring parties toward a sustainable solution.

Lomé, hub for fragmented mediation efforts

The choice of Togo as a rallying point was no coincidence. Faure Gnassingbé, designated AU facilitator for the Congolese dossier, has worked for months to unite parallel initiatives that multiplied without converging. The Nairobi process led by the EAC and the Luanda process under AU auspices, long embodied by Angola’s João Lourenço, advanced in disjointed fashion. The gradual merging of these tracks, initiated in 2024, has not yet yielded hoped-for results on the ground.

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

Tense timeline between Kinshasa, Kigali and M23

Diplomatic progress discussed at the Lomé meeting remains modest relative to expectations. Direct talks between Kinshasa and M23, long rejected by Congolese authorities, eventually began 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 recalled that implementation of previous commitments, notably the withdrawal of foreign forces from Congolese territory and the cantonment of armed groups, is significantly 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 far exceed the security framework.

War economy complicates crisis resolution

Beyond politics, participants stressed the urgency of tackling illicit mining resource exploitation in Kivu. Coltan, tin, gold and tungsten fuel a war economy with ramifications extending to international supply chains. Several mediators advocate for a regional traceability mechanism, deemed indispensable for any sustainable de-escalation.

The Lomé meeting did not yield spectacular announcements but reaffirmed the principle of an integrated approach. Next steps should more closely involve Congolese civil actors, long excluded from processes dominated by heads of state and chancelleries. Civil society from North and South Kivu, as well as customary authorities, are now identified as essential relays to anchor any potential agreement in the reality of battered territories.

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