{"id":122684,"date":"2026-05-17T17:52:01","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T17:52:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/congo-and-rwanda-vie-for-francophonie-post"},"modified":"2026-05-19T00:42:52","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T00:42:52","slug":"congo-and-rwanda-vie-for-francophonie-post","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/congo-and-rwanda-vie-for-francophonie-post","title":{"rendered":"Congo and Rwanda Vie for Francophonie Post"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. <\/strong> <\/span>The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda are heading towards a diplomatic battle for the leadership of the International Organization of La Francophonie, as both have nominated competing candidates amid ongoing fighting in eastern Congo.<\/p>\n

This diplomatic rivalry is taking place against the backdrop of continuous clashes between Congo and the March 23 Movement rebels, supported by Rwanda, who seized the eastern cities of Goma and Bukavu in early 2025. Rwanda denies allegations from Kinshasa, Western countries, and United Nations experts regarding its support for the rebels. Mediation efforts by a local source, Qatar, and the African Union have failed to halt the fighting.<\/p>\n

The position of Secretary General of La Francophonie carries significant diplomatic weight, as its mandate includes education, cultural policy, human rights, and economic cooperation.<\/p>\n

Louise Mushikiwabo, the current Secretary General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Rwanda, is seeking a third term. She faces competition from Juliana Lumumba, a former Minister of Culture and the daughter of the independence leader and first Prime Minister of Congo.<\/p>\n

Also running are Kumba Ba, a presidential advisor in Mauritania, and Dacian Ciolos\u0326, a former Romanian Prime Minister. Kinshasa has strongly supported Lumumba’s candidacy, which was announced in late February. The candidate has recently visited several African countries, as well as Canada, the second-largest funder of the organization.<\/p>\n

Patrick Muyaya, the spokesperson for the Congolese government, stated that Kinshasa is seeking support for Lumumba’s candidacy “in a positive and constructive spirit,” pointing to the growing demographic and cultural weight of French-speaking Africa. Congo has a population of about 100 million, making it the largest French-speaking country in the world.<\/p>\n

Muyaya said, “For us, this election is not about competition between countries or bilateral tensions. The International Organization of La Francophonie is a multilateral organization that transcends short-term political disputes.”<\/p>\n

Mushikiwabo, a former Rwandan foreign minister elected in 2018 with support from France and re-elected in 2022, has presented her candidacy as a continuation of the previous approach.<\/p>\n

Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe stated that Mushikiwabo’s candidacy is based on her track record of promoting and modernizing the international organization. He added, “The existing tensions between countries should not be exported to an organization that is not concerned with these issues.”<\/p>\n

Friday is the final deadline for submitting nominations for the position of Secretary General of the International Organization of La Francophonie, which represents over 320 million French speakers worldwide and includes 90 countries and governments.<\/p>\n

The International Organization of La Francophonie has 53 voting members, five associate members, and 32 observers. The organization will choose its new president at a summit to be held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on November 15 and 16.<\/p>\n

Find more news and analyses on Rwanda<\/span> on the Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda are heading towards a diplomatic battle for the leadership of the International Organization of La Francophonie, as both have nominated competing candidates amid ongoing fighting in eastern Congo. This diplomatic rivalry is taking place against the backdrop of continuous clashes between Congo and the March […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":122683,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,29,14],"tags":[758],"class_list":["post-122684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-rwanda"],"yoast_head":"\nCongo and Rwanda Vie for Francophonie Post - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda are heading towards a diplomatic battle for the leadership\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/congo-and-rwanda-vie-for-francophonie-post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Congo and Rwanda Vie for Francophonie Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda are heading towards a diplomatic battle for the leadership\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/congo-and-rwanda-vie-for-francophonie-post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rwanda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-17T17:52:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-19T00:42:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2026\/05\/sm_1779147928.916798.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"404\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/congo-and-rwanda-vie-for-francophonie-post#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/congo-and-rwanda-vie-for-francophonie-post\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Congo and Rwanda Vie for Francophonie Post\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-17T17:52:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-19T00:42:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/congo-and-rwanda-vie-for-francophonie-post\"},\"wordCount\":460,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/congo-and-rwanda-vie-for-francophonie-post#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/sites\/23\/2026\/05\/sm_1779147928.916798.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Rwanda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"Policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/congo-and-rwanda-vie-for-francophonie-post#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/congo-and-rwanda-vie-for-francophonie-post\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/congo-and-rwanda-vie-for-francophonie-post\",\"name\":\"Congo and Rwanda Vie for Francophonie Post - 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