Regional mediators gather in Lomé to assess progress on eastern DRC peace process
Lomé, the Togolese capital, hosted a strategic gathering on June 7 and 8, 2026, focused on the crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). At the table were envoys from 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 African Union (AU) and United Nations (UN) representatives. Their stated goal was to assess diplomatic alignment and gauge how far the warring parties remain from a lasting settlement.
Lomé acts as hub for fragmented mediation efforts
That Togo was chosen as the rallying point is no coincidence. Faure Gnassingbé, appointed AU facilitator for the DRC dossier, has for months sought to unite parallel initiatives that have multiplied without always converging. The Nairobi process, led by the EAC, and the Luanda process, under AU auspices and long represented by Angola’s João Lourenço, have moved forward disjointedly. The gradual merger of these tracks, begun in 2024, has yet to deliver expected 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 against another. This fragmentation has long benefited armed groups, especially the March 23 Movement (M23), whose military advances in North and South Kivu have redrawn the region’s security map.
Tense timeline between Kinshasa, Kigali and M23
The diplomatic progress reported during the Togolese 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 governments of backing the rebel group—remains the most delicate political knot to untie.
Mediators recalled that implementation of earlier commitments—especially the withdrawal of foreign forces from Congolese territory and the internment 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 far exceed the security framework.
War economy complicates exit from crisis
Beyond the political dimension, participants stressed the urgency of tackling illicit mining exploitation circuits in Kivu. Coltan, tin, gold, and tungsten fuel a war economy whose reach extends into 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 are expected to involve Congolese civil actors more closely, who have long been excluded from processes dominated by heads of state and chanceries. Civil society in North and South Kivu, along with traditional authorities, are now seen as essential relays to anchor any eventual agreement in the reality of battered territories.
Nevertheless, mediators left the Togolese capital without a firm timetable for signing a comprehensive agreement. The coming weeks will show whether the diplomatic momentum generated in Lomé is enough to alter the course of a conflict that, for over three decades, has defied every peace architecture built around the Great Lakes.
