Southern Africa: Eastern DRC - Unpacking the Difficult Task of Regional Diplomacy

Cpl. Jad Sleiman, U.S. Marine Corps/Wikimedia
South African National Defense Force troops (file photo).
7 February 2025
Daily Maverick (Johannesburg)
By Bram Verelst and Nicodemus Minde

As M23 continues its destructive march, the upcoming EAC-SADC summit must consider lessons from failed peace efforts.

On 27 January, Rwanda-backed Mouvement du 23 Mars (M23) forces took control of Goma, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's (DRC) North Kivu province. The city's capture and M23's advances towards Bukavu in South Kivu mark a drastic escalation of the rebellion since peace talks collapsed under the Luanda and Nairobi processes - with devastating humanitarian and civilian consequences.

The East African Community (EAC) and Southern African Development Community (SADC) are prioritising the conflict. Leaders from the two regions will meet on Saturday, 8 February, in Dar es Salaam to discuss options for stabilising the region. Given the two blocs' different approaches to the eastern DRC, lessons from both processes must inform discussions.

Goma and Bukavu, eastern DRC

Under the African Union (AU)-backed Luanda Process, started in 2022, Rwanda's President Paul Kagame was scheduled to meet DRC President Felix Tshisekedi in mid-December 2024 to sign a provisional peace agreement. But Kagame cancelled because the DRC refused to include a commitment to dialogue with M23, since it (the DRC) sees the Luanda Process as strictly between states.

This development blocked earlier progress, when participants...

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