The Togolese capital played host to a high-stakes gathering on June 7-8, 2026, as regional mediators convened to address the deepening crisis in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Around the negotiating table sat delegates from the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the East African Community (EAC), the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), alongside envoys from the African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN). The meeting’s core mission: to harmonize diplomatic strategies and bridge the widening gap between warring factions toward a lasting resolution.

Lomé as a crossroads for fragmented peace efforts

The selection of Lomé as the venue was far from coincidental. Faure Gnassingbé, the AU’s facilitator for the Congolese dossier, has spent months attempting to unify parallel initiatives that have proliferated without converging. The Nairobi process, spearheaded by the EAC, and the Luanda track, led by the AU under former Angolan President João Lourenço, have advanced in disjointed fashion. The gradual merger of these tracks, initiated in 2024, has yet to yield tangible results on the ground.

Diplomats in Lomé conceded that coordination remains the Achilles’ heel of the peace endeavor. Multiple stakeholders emphasized the need to streamline dialogue channels to prevent parties from exploiting one mediation avenue against another. This fragmentation has long benefited armed groups, particularly the March 23 Movement (M23), whose military advances in North Kivu and South Kivu have reshaped the region’s security landscape.

Tense timelines amid Kinshasa, Kigali and M23 tensions

The diplomatic progress touted in Lomé pales against the backdrop of expectations. Direct negotiations between Kinshasa and the M23—once flatly rejected by Congolese authorities—have finally commenced under mounting pressure from regional mediators and international partners. Meanwhile, the bilateral dimension between the DRC and Rwanda, accused by the UN and Western capitals of backing the rebel group, remains the most intractable political hurdle.

Mediators cautioned that the implementation of prior commitments—including the withdrawal of foreign forces from Congolese soil and the disarmament of armed factions—lags dangerously behind schedule. The deployment of the SADC mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC), which suffered heavy casualties in early 2025, laid bare the limitations of regional military responses to a conflict fueled by economic, land and identity grievances far beyond security concerns.

War economy complicates peace prospects

Beyond geopolitical wrangling, participants highlighted the urgent need to dismantle illicit mineral supply chains in the Kivu provinces. Coltan, tin, gold and tungsten sustain a war economy whose tentacles stretch into global supply chains. Several mediators advocate for a regional traceability mechanism, a prerequisite they argue for any sustainable de-escalation.

The Lomé meeting yielded no headline-grabbing announcements but reaffirmed the principle of an integrated approach. Future steps must integrate Congolese civil society—long sidelined in state-centric processes—more closely. Civil society leaders from North Kivu and South Kivu, along with customary authorities, are now seen as essential partners to ground any potential accord in the realities of war-torn communities.

Yet mediators departed Lomé without a firm timeline for a comprehensive peace deal. The coming weeks will reveal whether the diplomatic momentum sparked in Lomé can alter the trajectory of a conflict that has defied all peace architectures in the Great Lakes region for over three decades.