On August 6, 2009, the presidents of Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Paul Kagame and Joseph Kabila held a historic meeting in Goma, Eastern Congo.

Both presidents agreed to resume relations between their nations after more than a decade of mistrust. They agreed to meet again soon.

Rwanda has been accusing Congo of supporting Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) - a Rwandan Hutu rebel group in eastern Congo which Rwanda says was formed by genocide perpetrators.

Congo, on her part, has been accusing Rwanda of supporting the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), a Congolese rebel group that accuses Kinshasa of failure to deal with the FDLR, the brain behind CNDP.

These accusations have created mutual mistrust, but now the neighbours want to be one.

Both nations earlier this year undertook a joint operation to disarm the FDLR which was followed by appointing envoys to represent interests of each country in the other.

The Goma talk saw both presidents commit to form joint economic activities.

Kabila assured Kagame of his efforts to deal with the FDLR while Kagame reiterated the need to look forward to a new drive for mutually beneficial cooperation.

Both nations have so far formed a joint venture to exploit 200 megawatts of power out of 700MW from methane gas in Lake Kivu, a water expanse shared by both countries. They are now working to come up with a feasibility study to guide them on how and when to start exploitation.

The EU is funding the study which should be ready by June 2010.

If joint exploitation hits targets, the two nations will boost power supply and export surplus to neighbours Burundi, Uganda and Tanzania, with its attendant benefits.

Such co-operation should form the basis of more cooperations in conflict situations like the current Migingo Island conflict on Lake Victoria or the Rukwanzi Island conflict on Lake Albert between Uganda and the DRC. There is more to gain economically than go through expensive wars and conflicts. In fact, the DRC and the Southern Sudan can be encouraged to join the EAC common market. That will bring peace and economic development.