Trump host signing of peace deal wit Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo

Trump, Kagame, and Tshisekedi hold up dia signed papers

Wia dis foto come from, AFP via Getty Images

    • Author, Emery Makumeno
    • Role, BBC Africa
    • Reporting from, Kinshasa
    • Author, Samba Cyuzuzo
    • Role, BBC Great Lakes
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President of United States of America, Donald Trump and President of Democratic Republic of Congo, Felix Tshisekedi, alongside dia counterpart Paul Kagame of Rwanda don sign one peace agreement for Washington wey go bring peace between di two African kontris.

Di deal na to stop di years of fight and long conflict for di region by establishing permanent ceasefire, di disarmament of rebel groups, provisions for refugees to return home, and new plan for economic prosperity, na wetin president Trump tok during di signing.

Trump say, "I get lot of confidence in dis two leaders," Trump tok. "We go keep dis commitments."

Kagame and Tshisekedi tok say dem go both honour wetin dey inside di deal, as Kagame praise Trump as a "pragmatic" and "even handed" leader wey dey seize opportunity to bring peace.

But experts wey follow BBC tok say di formal signing of di agreement na positive step, dem tok say di fighting wey dey for DR Congo go stop to dey spread and true peace go come.

Bifor di summit, serious fights bin don hapun for di resource-rich eastern DR Congo between govment forces and rebels wey pipo believe say get di support of Rwanda.

DR Congo army bin accuse dia rivals say dem try to "sabotage" di peace process, but di M23 rebels tok say di army launch one attack wey breach one ceasefire operation.

For di beginning of di year, M23 bin seize large parts of eastern DR Congo for inside one attack wey lead to di death of thousands of pipo and force many pipo to run comot dia house.

For di beginning of di year, M23 bin seize large parts of eastern DR Congo for inside one attack wey lead to di death of thousands of pipo and force many pipo to run comot dia house.

DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi plus im Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame don often exchange insults in recent years, dem accuse each oda of starting di conflict.

Trump bin make di two kontris foreign ministers sign one peace accord for June, wey e hail as "glorious triumph".

Tshisekedi and Kagame go now endorse am. Several oda African and Arab leaders – wey include from Burundi and Qatar – dey expected to attend di signing ceremony.

One soja from di Armed Forces of di Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) carry one mounted machine gun dey tok for fone along di road wey lead to di entrance of di town of Sake, for January 2025.

Wia dis foto come from, AFP via Getty Images

Wetin we call dis foto, Di Congolese army dey battle wit rebel groups for many years

Di M23 no dey present - dem dey in tok-tok wit DR Congo govment for inside one parallel peace process wey Qatar dey lead.

Di Trump administration shoulder di tok-tok between DR Congo and Rwanda, wit hope say settling di differences between di two neighbours go pave way for di US to increase investments for di resource-rich region.

Rwanda deny say dem support M23, despite wetin UN experts tok say, dia army dey for "de facto control of M23 operations".

Di M23 seize key cities for eastern DR Congo earlier dis year, wey include Goma and Bukavu.

For one statement, DR Congo army tok-tok pesin, Gen Sylvain Ekenge say di rebels bin launch one fresh attack on Tuesday for villages wey dey di South Kivu province.

Di villages dey about 75km (47 miles) from Uvira city, e lie for di border wit Burundi, and e don become di headquarters of di South Kivu regional govment since di rebels seize Bukavu.

For dia part, di M23 tok say na di DR Congo army bin launch one air and ground assault against dia positions, and dem do am in collaboration wit Burundian forces.

Burundi neva comment on dis allegation. Dem get plenty thousand troops for eastern DR Congo to support di embattled army.

One young girl dey sell vegetables near di meeting site of di M23 and residents for Goma for October 2025

Wia dis foto come from, AFP via Getty Images

Wetin we call dis foto, Di main trading hub for eastern DR Congo, Goma, don dey under rebel control since January

Despite di fanfare plus di presence of di two leaders for Washington, some analysts dey sceptical about weda di deal go lead to lasting peace.

One DR Congo researcher wit di South Africa-based Institute for Security Studies think-tank, Bram Verelst, bin tell BBC say "currently, no ceasefire dey in place, and di M23 rebellion continue to expand and consolidate im control".

"Di signing ceremony dey unlikely to change dis situation, though some small hope dey say e fit increase accountability on Congolese and Rwandan leaders to honour dia commitments," e tok.

Rwanda say dem don adopt "defensive measures" for eastern DR Congo becos of di threat posed by di FDLR militia group, wey include fighters wey bin carry out di 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Kagame bin don insist on di disarmament of di group, while DR Congo demand di withdrawal of Rwandan troops as condition for peace.

Di deal wey dem sign tok say both of dis need to hapun.

However, plenty peace deals wey go back to di 1990s don fail afta Rwanda accuse previous Congolese govment say dem fail to disarm di FDLR and dis na still one of di main stumbling blocks for inside current efforts to end di conflict.

DR Congo also dey demand say make di M23 release di territory dem seize, something wey so far, dem don refuse to do for di Qatar-brokered tok-tok.

Qatar and di US dey co-ordinate dia mediation efforts. Qatar get strong ties wit Rwanda, while e be like say di US dey closer to DR Congo.

Di US State Department for 2023 tok say DR Congo get estimated $25trn (£21.2trn) in mineral reserves.

Dis include cobalt, copper, lithium, manganese and tantalum - key ingredients wey dey needed to make di electronic components dem dey use for computers, electric vehicles, mobile phones, wind turbines and military hardware.

"We dey get, for di United States, plenty of di mineral rights from di Congo as part of am," Trump bin tok, ahead of di deal dem sign for June.

Prof Jason Stearns, one Canada-based political scientist wey specialise for di region, tell BBC say US for long don dey push for one economic agreement wey fit see DR Congo and Rwanda co-operate on hydro-electronic power, mining and infrastructure development.

"Di logic na say dem go provide di peace dividend," e tok.

However, DR Congo bin don make am clear say even if dem sign di agreement, dem no go "advance on dat deal until Rwandan troops don withdraw from eastern DR Congo", Prof Stearns add.

Map of central Africa show DR Congo, Uganda and Rwanda.