The Togolese capital hosted a pivotal strategic meeting on June 7 and 8, 2026, dedicated to resolving the crisis in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Gathered at the negotiating table were representatives from the key regional bodies involved in mediation: the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the East African Community (EAC), and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR). They were joined by envoys from the African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN). The explicit goal was to assess the coherence of various diplomatic tracks and gauge the remaining distance between the warring parties and a lasting settlement.
Lomé, a nexus for fragmented mediation
The selection of Togo as the meeting point was no coincidence. Faure Gnassingbé, appointed as the African Union’s facilitator for the Congolese issue, has been working for months to consolidate parallel initiatives that have often multiplied without converging. The Nairobi process, led by the EAC, and the Luanda process, conducted under the AU’s banner and long personified by Angola’s João Lourenço, have progressed on separate tracks. The gradual merger of these paths, which began in 2024, has not yet delivered the anticipated 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 the protagonists from playing one mediation effort against another. This disunity has long benefited armed actors, primarily the March 23 Movement (M23), whose military advances in North Kivu and South Kivu have reshaped the region’s security landscape.
A tense timeline involving Kinshasa, Kigali, and the M23
The diplomatic progress discussed during the Togolese summit remains modest compared to expectations. Direct talks between Kinshasa and the M23, long rejected by Congolese authorities, eventually commenced under the combined pressure of regional mediators and international partners. Concurrently, the bilateral aspect between the DRC and Rwanda—accused by the UN and several Western governments of supporting the rebel movement—remains the most challenging political knot to untie.
The mediators highlighted that the implementation of prior commitments, particularly the withdrawal of foreign forces from Congolese territory and the cantonment of armed groups, is alarmingly behind schedule. The deployment of the SADC Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC), which faced significant human losses in early 2025, has underscored the limitations of regional military responses to a conflict whose economic, land, and identity-based drivers extend far beyond the security sphere.
A war economy hindering a crisis exit
Beyond the political dimension, participants emphasized the urgency of addressing the illicit exploitation of the Kivu region’s mineral resources. Coltan, tin, gold, and tungsten fuel a war economy with ramifications that reach international supply chains. Several mediators are advocating for a regional traceability mechanism, a condition they deem essential for any sustainable de-escalation.
The Lomé meeting did not result in any spectacular announcements, but it did serve to reaffirm the principle of an integrated approach. The next steps are expected to more closely involve Congolese civil society actors, who have long been sidelined from processes dominated by heads of state and foreign ministries. Civil society from North and South Kivu, along with customary authorities, are now recognized as indispensable partners for grounding any potential agreement in the reality of the afflicted territories.
Nevertheless, the mediators departed the Togolese capital without a firm timetable for signing a comprehensive accord. The coming weeks will reveal whether the diplomatic momentum initiated in Lomé will be sufficient to alter the trajectory of a conflict that has, for over three decades, defied every peace architecture built around the Great Lakes region.
