Africa-Press – Angola. Academics at Cedesa, which studies issues in Southern Africa, especially Angola, believe that a military intervention by this country to reinforce the Congolese army could help bring peace to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRCongo).
In a summary of the situation in eastern Congo, the role of the M23 rebel group and Rwanda, the group of academics and experts from Cedesa — the Center for Studies for Economic and Social Development in Africa — points to this among three possible working hypotheses for the reconstruction of peace in eastern DR Congo.
“Any solution will be the lesser evil,” they say, and the first would be the “separation/secession of the eastern zone” of the country, thus creating a new state that, “would possibly come under the influence of Rwanda, or at least sign a free trade agreement with Kigali.
A solution that “would not please Kinshasa”, the academics stress, referring to the capital and center of power of the DR Congo.
The second option would be to “keep Eastern Congo as an integral part of the DR Congo, but giving it a more autonomous status and allowing the area to become part of a free trade area or economic integration with Rwanda,” they say.
The third solution “would require military intervention by Angola, to train and reinforce the DR Congo army, possibly with the involvement of the United States of America”.
This hypothesis would also require “reforms, towards good governance in the DR Congo” and “some kind of economic agreement with Rwanda”, without which they consider “it is not possible to guarantee lasting peace”.
The mineral-rich eastern DR Congo has been the scene of violence for 30 years. But since November 2021, the M23, an armed group backed by Rwanda and its army, has seized vast swathes of that territory in the DR Congo.
Since 2020, Angola has hosted several summits to achieve peace in the region, as part of regional efforts promoted by the organizations in which it is a member, such as the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) and the African Union (AU), and intends to give new impetus to the negotiation rounds to put an end to tensions between the two countries.
The President of Angola, João Lourenço, as mediator appointed by the African Union, has been trying to reach a ceasefire, calling for dialogue between the parties involved and promoting initiatives to stabilize the Great Lakes region, including the Luanda Process.
However, according to Cedesa, this commitment by Angola and the Angolan President has only managed to avoid “a total and direct confrontation between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda”. And the situation, in the opinion of the group of academics, tends to worsen.
In this document, to which Lusa had access, Cedesa also issues a warning considering that this “war unknown or ignored” by the West “may, in the medium term, have very relevant impacts on the entire energy transition policy and use of new technologies across the globe”, and highlighting that in the area where it is taking place it is already having “a devastating effect”.
In addition to Rwanda’s political objectives, “linked to the country’s power projection, prestige and combating opposition forces in the DR Congo, there is a key fact that sharpens Rwanda’s interest and is probably linked to its survival as a viable and sustainable country with high growth rates”, say the experts.
And Rwanda, they conclude, “needs access to minerals from the conflict zone of eastern Congo to sustain its economic growth.”
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