• Lomé will host a new summit on January 17 to address the crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

• The meeting follows a Rwanda–DRC peace agreement signed in Washington in November 2025 under U.S. mediation.

• Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé will lead the talks as the African Union’s appointed mediator.

Lomé will host a new meeting on January 17 focused on the crisis destabilizing eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

The summit follows the signing of a peace agreement between Rwanda and the DRC in Washington in November 2025. U.S. President Donald Trump brokered the agreement.

In Lomé, participants will focus discussions on political coordination, regional security, de-escalation mechanisms, humanitarian support, and economic integration.

According to several Congolese media outlets, the talks should help revive the peace process. However, tensions between Kinshasa and Kigali remain high despite the recent agreement.

Faure Gnassingbé, President of the Council of Togo, will lead the meeting. The African Union has appointed him as mediator for the Great Lakes crisis.

For Lomé, the summit represents another opportunity to assert itself as a credible diplomatic actor in efforts to resolve a regional crisis.

Togo previously played a role in the file in October 2025. Lomé co-organized a similar meeting with France in Paris.

That meeting focused on responses to the persistent humanitarian crisis in the Great Lakes region and on pathways toward sustainable peace.

During the Paris talks, Faure Gnassingbé called for an integrated African approach based on development and the reform of aid mechanisms.

This article was initially published in French by Esaïe Edoh

Adapted in English by Ange Jason Quenum