Eastern DRC mediators gather in Lomé to assess peace efforts

On 7 and 8 June 2026, Lomé, the capital of Togo, hosted a strategic meeting focused on the crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Attendees included representatives from key regional mediation bodies: 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 was to assess the coherence of diplomatic avenues and gauge how far the warring parties remain from a lasting settlement.

Lomé as a hub for fragmented mediation

The choice of Togo as a rallying point was deliberate. Faure Gnassingbé, appointed 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 championed by Angola’s João Lourenço, advanced in a disjointed manner. The gradual merger of these tracks, initiated in 2024, has yet to yield the desired results on the ground.

Diplomats 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 off against another. This fragmentation has long benefited armed groups, notably the March 23 Movement (M23), whose military advances in North and South Kivu have redrawn the region’s security landscape.

A tense timeline between Kinshasa, Kigali and the M23

The diplomatic progress reported during the Togolese meeting remains modest compared to expectations. Direct talks between Kinshasa and the 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 chanceries of backing 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, highlighted the limits of regional military responses to a conflict whose economic, land and identity drivers extend far beyond the security framework.

A war economy that complicates crisis exit

Beyond the political dimension, participants stressed the urgency of tackling illicit mining circuits in Kivu. Coltan, tin, gold and tungsten fuel a war economy whose reach extends to international supply chains. Several mediators are advocating for a regional traceability mechanism, considered essential for any sustainable de-escalation.

The Lomé meeting did not yield spectacular announcements, but it reaffirmed the principle of an integrated approach. Next steps should involve Congolese civil actors more closely, long excluded from processes dominated by heads of state and chanceries. Civil society in North and South Kivu, along with customary authorities, are now seen as indispensable relays to anchor any potential agreement in the reality of war-ravaged territories.

Yet mediators left the Togolese capital without a firm timetable for signing a comprehensive agreement. The coming weeks will reveal whether the diplomatic momentum launched in Lomé can shift the trajectory of a conflict that, for over three decades, has defied every peace architecture built around the Great Lakes region.