On Monday, March 24, the Government of Angola announced that it has relinquished its role as a mediator in the long-standing conflict between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The news was confirmed by the Angolan Presidency through a message posted on its official Facebook page.
President João Lourenço of Angola had been assigned the responsibility of mediating the tensions in eastern Congo by the African Union, following accusations by Kinshasa that Rwanda was supporting the M23 rebel group.
Angola stated that negotiations between the two countries had led to a major breakthrough in December 2024 at the ministerial level, where “the DRC agreed to dismantle the FDLR, while Rwanda agreed to withdraw its troops from Congolese territory and the shared border.”
However, Luanda noted that this agreement was never implemented because the December 15, 2024, meeting between Presidents Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Félix Tshisekedi of the DRC—where these agreements were supposed to be finalized—did not take place as Rwanda did not attend.
Angola also emphasized the need for dialogue between the Congolese government and the M23 rebel group. It mentioned that a meeting between the two parties was scheduled for March 18 but was canceled at the last minute due to “external factors unrelated to Africa’s peace process.”
Now that Angola has taken on the responsibility of leading the African Union, it believes the time has come to relinquish its role as a mediator in the Rwanda-DRC conflict.
“Nearly two months after assuming the leadership of the African Union, Angola believes it is necessary to withdraw from its role as mediator in the eastern DRC conflict to focus more on the broader continental initiatives set by the Union,” the statement read.
Among Lourenço’s priorities for the African continent are peace and security, infrastructure development, trade facilitation, disease and epidemic control, economic growth, social welfare, and justice for Africans and people of African descent through reparations.
Angola also stated that, in collaboration with the African Union Commission, new measures will soon be taken to appoint a new mediator. This country will be led by a president endorsed by both the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to continue mediating between Rwanda and the DRC.
Angola’s decision to withdraw as a mediator comes just days after Qatar took over this role. This happened after Presidents Paul Kagame and Félix Tshisekedi met for talks in Doha last week.
Through its Foreign Minister, Amb. Téte António, Angola expressed surprise at seeing Kagame and Tshisekedi meet in Doha on the same day that the DRC and M23 were supposed to meet in Luanda. He emphasized that African problems should be solved by Africans.
