Malheureusement, ce numéro de la revue de presse n’est actuellement disponible qu’en allemand et en anglais.
Peace agreement between DR Congo and Rwanda
Last Friday, the Foreign Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, and her Rwandan counterpart Olivier Nduhungirehe signed a US-brokered peace agreement in Washington, DC. The ceremony took place in the presence of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The aim is to settle the decades-long conflict in eastern DR Congo.
The agreement obliges both parties to respect territorial integrity, to withdraw Rwandan troops and to cease corresponding defence measures within 90 days. The Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda (FDLR) are also to be neutralised within the same period. Furthermore, each party commits to immediately and unconditionally ceasing any state support for non-state armed groups, unless they are explicitly part of the implementation of the peace agreement. The agreement also provides for support in the withdrawal, disarmament, and partial reintegration of such non-state groups. The implementation of these measures is to be coordinated with the troop withdrawal and carried out within the framework of national programmes such as the P-DDRCS and the Joint Security Coordination Mechanism. This mechanism is to be set up within the next 30 days and will define joint working procedures and reporting mechanisms. Among other objectives, it aims to guarantee clarity and openness about the extent and impact of the activities. Representatives from the African Union (AU), the United States, and Qatar — all key mediators in the conflict — will also be part of the coordination mechanism. In addition, both sides have agreed to launch a Regional Economic Integration Framework within three months. The initiative aims to foster closer bilateral and regional cooperation – particularly in trade in strategic raw materials. Planned joint projects include areas such as energy, the environment, and supply chains, including formalised, continuous value chains for minerals – from mine to processed metal – linking both countries and potentially implemented in partnership with the US government and American investors.
In July, a package of agreements under the title “Washington Accord” is to be signed at the level of heads of state. Following the ceremony, President Trump presented invitations to Presidents Félix Tshisekedi and Paul Kagame to Washington, D.C., through the foreign ministers. Observers expect that access to critical raw materials will be a central focus of the agreements. According to Trump’s Africa advisor, Massad Boulos, details will only be released after the signing.
Rwanda’s foreign minister described the peace agreement as a turning point in the conflict and UN Secretary-General António Guterres called it an ‘important step towards de-escalation’. At the same time, observers point to the limited success of comparable peace initiatives to date. The absence of the M23 – the most important armed group in the East of the country, believed to be supported by Rwanda – is particularly criticised. Accordingly, a spokesperson for the M23 stated that the agreement was not binding for them as they had not been directly involved. Under the mediation of Qatar – where also background talks between Kigali and Kinshasa have already taken place – separate talks between the M23 and the Congolese government are currently underway. The adopted peace agreement explicitly refers to this process; both governments have committed themselves to supporting the talks.
The economic focus of the agreement has also attracted criticism. Former President Joseph Kabila described it as a ‘pure trade agreement’, while Nobel Peace Prize laureate Denis Mukwege even called it ‘peace for exploitation’. The trigger for US mediation was an initiative by President Tshisekedi, who in April offered the US access to critical minerals — in exchange for security guarantees. Besides the role of the US, criticism is also directed at the fact that the disarmament measures set out in the agreement almost exclusively concern the Democratic Republic of Congo, while there are hardly any concrete obligations for Rwanda. Central issues such as sexualised violence, criminal justice and reparations remain unaddressed in the agreement.
Whether the peace agreement will lead to a sustainable easing of the conflict is likely to depend largely on the involvement of armed groups, the political will of both governments and the implementation of the agreed measures.
Financing for Development Conference in Seville
The fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4) ended on Thursday in Seville. The four-day conference, convened by the United Nations, brought together around 15,000 participants, including high-ranking government representatives from over 150 countries as well as representatives of international financial institutions, multilateral organisations, the private sector and civil society. Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and France’s President Emmanuel Macron were among the 60 heads of state and government in attendance. Germany was represented by Federal Development Minister Reem Alabali Radovan and Parliamentary State Secretary Bärbel Kofler. The USA, which withdrew from the process at the beginning of the month, did not send a delegation. The background of the conference was the growing funding gap for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – currently estimated at around four trillion US dollars a year – as well as the increasing challenges posed by geopolitical tensions, debt and inequality.
The final document Compromiso de Sevilla, which had already been agreed in advance, was adopted on Monday. In the declaration, the signatory UN member states reaffirm the 0.7 per cent target: 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) is to be provided annually as Official Development Assistance (ODA), a target that was only met last year by Norway, Luxembourg, Sweden and Denmark. Overall, the Seville Declaration outlines measures on three key levels: mobilising major investments for sustainable development, tackling the debt and development crisis and reforming the international financial architecture. Among other things, it emphasises the importance of improved debt restructuring processes and calls for greater debt transparency and the development of sustainable debt sustainability strategies that are tailored to the specific challenges faced by countries. However, a proposal by the Group of African States and the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) on a sovereign debt restructuring mechanism was rejected by the United States, the EU, and other industrialized countries. Instead, in the final declaration, the states reaffirm the continuation and further development of the G20 initiative on debt treatment as a central multilateral framework for coordinated debt solutions. The document also emphasises the importance of improved coordination between creditors, a stronger role for multilateral development banks and support for countries in mobilising their own resources in order to promote long-term financial stability.
The Seville Platform for Action was set up to monitor and coordinate the implementation of the resolutions. A total of 130 initiatives were adopted within this framework. These include the Debt Swaps for Development Hub, a joint initiative by Spain and the World Bank, which aims to reduce debt service burdens. The Debt-for-Development Swap Programme, which is led by Italy, aims to convert 230 million euros in payment obligations of African countries into investments for development projects. Other initiatives include the Debt ‘Pause Clause’ Alliance – an alliance of countries and development banks committed to including a pause clause in their lending to suspend debt service payments in times of crisis, or the Coalition for Global Solidarity Levies, to which France, Kenya and Barbados belong and which provide for a tax on premium flights and private jets to raise funds for climate protection and sustainable development.
Germany is part of the SCALED initiative, a joint platform of financial institutions and countries that aims to develop scalable instruments and funds for blended finance with a development impact and was presented at the Hamburg Sustainability Conference at the beginning of June. With the Borrowers’ Forum, an independent platform has also been created for debtor countries to strengthen their negotiating position with creditors, promote the exchange of experience and develop common standards for responsible lending. In addition, the taxation of digital companies and the super-rich also plays an important role, a project that was previously blocked by Germany and the EU.
In view of growing funding gaps and declining ODA commitments, the discussions focused primarily on the question of how private capital can be mobilised more effectively to close the global funding gap. The debate was given added urgency by Marco Rubio’s announcement that the US development agency USAID would be disbanded, a move that further intensified the debate on the future of global development financing.
Overall, the outcome of the fourth development finance conference is rather mixed. While some states and stakeholders see the Seville Declaration as an important political step, such as Egypt’s Planning Minister Rania Al-Mashat, who, for example, described the Borrowers’ Forum as a ‘real plan’ that was developed by the countries concerned themselves. Representatives of civil society, on the other hand, voiced clear criticism. Among other things, they criticised the lack of binding measures and insufficient political pressure to act. In this context, the Seville Declaration was sometimes described as a minimum consensus.
In other news
A pop-up store of the Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX) programme, a programme of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), is running at Galeries Lafayette Paris Haussmann until next Tuesday. The 90 square metre presentation is located on the third floor under the famous dome of the Parisian department stores’ and was created in collaboration with the fashion platform Tranoï and Galeries Lafayette as part of Paris Fashion Week. The aim of the initiative is to offer designers from Africa an international platform and facilitate access to global markets. Four selected brands – Boyedoe from Ghana, Late for work from Morocco, We are NBO from Kenya and the Nigerian-British label Wuman – will present their collections and provide an insight into the diversity and innovative power of contemporary African fashion. The campaign is part of a broader programme to promote the creative industries on the African continent. With a dedicated funding volume of two billion US dollars over four years, CANEX aims to support the development of an economically viable ecosystem for the African creative industries, from financing to production and global trade.
Event information
This year’s African Book Festival will take place at the Alte Münze event location in Berlin from 18 to 20 July 2025. It is organised by the InterKontinental e.V., which is an association dedicated to promoting African literature in Germany. Visitors can expect a colourful mix of food, sales and information stands as well as a varied programme of readings, panels and performances under this year’s motto ‘In other words’. The festival will open with a scenic reading by Ghanaian author and storyteller Ivana Akotowaa Ofori, who will act as curator. In her book titled ‘The Year of Return’, she tells the story of Adwapa, who returned to Ghana in 2019 – the year commemorating the abduction of enslaved Africans to the USA. Ofori weaves diaspora, memory and reconciliation into a modern ghost story that can also be read as a memorial against forgetting.
Click here for the detailed programme of the festival.