Trump-Touted Rwanda-Congo Economic Pact Hindered by Hostilities
Olivier Nduhungirehe, Rwanda's foreign minister, from left, US Vice President JD Vance, President Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, US secretary of state, and Therese Kayikwamba Wagner, Democratic Republic of the Congo foreign minister, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on June 27, 2025.
Photographer: Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg
A key element of the Trump administration’s peace deal between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo has hit a hurdle after officials failed to agree on an economic pact because hostilities continue, according to people familiar with the matter.
Rwandan, Congolese and US officials met in Washington this week with the aim of agreeing a final text for a regional economic integration framework, designed to bind the African nations’ economies more closely to increase the chance of a peace accord finally holding.