DRC, Rwanda sign peace deal in Washington after years of tension

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda have signed a treaty to strengthen their fragile relationship, long strained by years of tension and conflict.

The United States and Qatar-brokered deal was signed on Friday in Washington by Therese Wagner, Congolese foreign minister, and Olivier Nduhungirehe, her Rwandan counterpart.

Marco Rubio, US secretary of state, presided over the signing of the peace agreement.

“This is an important moment after 30 years of war,” Rubio said.

“We believe that a turning point has been reached with the Democratic Republic of Congo,” Nduhungirehe said at the signing.

Wagner noted that the peace agreement must be followed by disengagement, justice and the return of displaced families.

Part of the agreement includes the implementation of a 2024 deal that would see Rwandan troops withdraw from eastern Congo within 90 days.

The agreement also provides for Kinshasa and Kigali to launch a regional economic integration framework within 90 days.

Fighting in eastern Congo escalated this year as M23 rebels staged an advance that saw it seize the region’s two largest cities, raising fears of a wider conflict.

Congo has accused Rwanda of supporting the rebels, but Kigali has repeatedly rejected the accusations, saying its forces stationed in eastern DRC are acting in self-defence against the country’s army and ethnic Hutu militiamen.

The ethnic Hutu militiamen are linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide that killed around one million people, mostly ethnic Tutsis.

Eastern DRC, where most of the fighting has been, harbours large deposits of critical minerals like tantalum, gold, cobalt, copper and lithium—minerals critical to the production of electronics.

The country sits on vast untapped reserves of mineral wealth, estimated to be worth around $24 trillion. However, it is said to be losing around $1 billion worth of minerals in illegal trading facilitated by the war.

Meanwhile, the deal is also expected to help the US government and American companies gain access to the minerals.

President Donald Trump called the deal a “wonderful treaty”.

Analysts agree that the deal is a major turning point but do not believe it will end the fighting that has raged on for years, claiming millions of lives.