On the latest episode of The President’s Inbox, Jim sat down with Mvemba Phezo Dizolele, a senior fellow and the Director of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, to discuss the renewed fighting in eastern Congo that pits the M23 rebel group backed by Rwanda against the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Conflict in Eastern Congo, With Mvemba Dizolele
Mvemba Dizolele, senior fellow and director of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the renewed fighting in the Eastern Congo that pits the M23 rebel group backed by Rwanda against the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
0:00
Here are three highlights from their conversation:
1) The M23 rebel group recently seized Goma and Bukavu, the two largest cities in eastern Congo, precipitating a renewed humanitarian crisis. Neighboring Rwanda, an ethnic Tutsi-majority country, has armed and funded the fellow Tutsi M23 group, with an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 Rwandan troops directly involved in its offensive against Goma. They are fighting both Congolese government forces and the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a Hutu group led in part by exiled leaders of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi population in Rwanda. Mvemba explained, “About two million Hutu Rwandans fled into Congo after the genocide, among them the entire Rwandan army with its arsenal.” In 1996, Rwanda intervened to stop Hutu raids from refugee camps and depose Congo’s government, which supported them. Since then, fighting in eastern Congo has killed six million people—the deadliest toll since World War II. M23’s latest insurgency has already claimed 7,000 lives and displaced more than 600,000 people since the beginning of the year. Millions more now face a potential famine.
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2) The motivations for the fighting extend beyond ethnic grievances. M23 rose to power in 2012 in eastern Congo, accusing the government of colluding with the FDLR to oppress minority Tutsis and launch cross-border raids into Rwanda. However, deeper financial interests involving both state and private actors play a critical role in sustaining the conflict. Eastern Congo is rich in minerals like cobalt, coltan, and copper—essential to global industries, particularly electronics. As Mvemba describes it, “there is a war economy on both sides of the border.” Rwanda has been accused of plundering Congo’s resources to bolster its economy, which outside powers have intentionally or unintentionally encouraged. In early 2024, the European Union signed a mineral trade deal with Rwanda. The EU is now reconsidering the agreement given mounting evidence that many of the minerals are being taken from eastern Congo. On the other side, China, which is deeply invested in Congo’s formal mining sector, has secured influence through bribes and military technology, which the Congolese government has used to combat M23.
3) Neither political settlements nor further military campaigns are likely to resolve the conflict. The weak government in Kinshasa has struggled to satisfy its many internal constituencies, and it long ago abandoned a 2013 refugee reintegration and reform process in eastern Congo. A longstanding UN peacekeeping force in eastern Congo failed to contain the recent resurgence of M23. Divisions within the East African Community and the Southern African Development Community, which have their own proxies fighting inside Congo, further impede mediation efforts. M23’s recent success on the battlefield is unlikely to produce a repeat of the Rwanda-led coalition’s 1997 march on Kinshasa that toppled the Congo government and ended the first civil war. Mvemba noted, “The M23 is primarily seen as a Tutsi group, Rwanda-backed… and they have no allies inside Congo to help them this time.” With more than one hundred armed groups in eastern Congo and global powers either unwilling or unable to stop the conflict, lasting peace remains out of reach.
If you’re looking to learn more from Mvemba, check out his recent policy brief, “Kenya’s Economic Initiatives in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” and listen to his weekly podcast, Into Africa.
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The President’s Inbox Recap: Conflict in Eastern Congo
The resurgence of Rwanda-backed insurgents in eastern Congo has reignited a decades-old conflict over ethnic rivalries, mineral wealth, and political representation.
March 19, 2025 2:52 pm (EST)
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- Blog posts represent the views of CFR fellows and staff and not those of CFR, which takes no institutional positions.
On the latest episode of The President’s Inbox, Jim sat down with Mvemba Phezo Dizolele, a senior fellow and the Director of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, to discuss the renewed fighting in eastern Congo that pits the M23 rebel group backed by Rwanda against the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Conflict in Eastern Congo, With Mvemba Dizolele
Mvemba Dizolele, senior fellow and director of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the renewed fighting in the Eastern Congo that pits the M23 rebel group backed by Rwanda against the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
0:00
Here are three highlights from their conversation:
1) The M23 rebel group recently seized Goma and Bukavu, the two largest cities in eastern Congo, precipitating a renewed humanitarian crisis. Neighboring Rwanda, an ethnic Tutsi-majority country, has armed and funded the fellow Tutsi M23 group, with an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 Rwandan troops directly involved in its offensive against Goma. They are fighting both Congolese government forces and the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a Hutu group led in part by exiled leaders of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi population in Rwanda. Mvemba explained, “About two million Hutu Rwandans fled into Congo after the genocide, among them the entire Rwandan army with its arsenal.” In 1996, Rwanda intervened to stop Hutu raids from refugee camps and depose Congo’s government, which supported them. Since then, fighting in eastern Congo has killed six million people—the deadliest toll since World War II. M23’s latest insurgency has already claimed 7,000 lives and displaced more than 600,000 people since the beginning of the year. Millions more now face a potential famine.
More on:
2) The motivations for the fighting extend beyond ethnic grievances. M23 rose to power in 2012 in eastern Congo, accusing the government of colluding with the FDLR to oppress minority Tutsis and launch cross-border raids into Rwanda. However, deeper financial interests involving both state and private actors play a critical role in sustaining the conflict. Eastern Congo is rich in minerals like cobalt, coltan, and copper—essential to global industries, particularly electronics. As Mvemba describes it, “there is a war economy on both sides of the border.” Rwanda has been accused of plundering Congo’s resources to bolster its economy, which outside powers have intentionally or unintentionally encouraged. In early 2024, the European Union signed a mineral trade deal with Rwanda. The EU is now reconsidering the agreement given mounting evidence that many of the minerals are being taken from eastern Congo. On the other side, China, which is deeply invested in Congo’s formal mining sector, has secured influence through bribes and military technology, which the Congolese government has used to combat M23.
3) Neither political settlements nor further military campaigns are likely to resolve the conflict. The weak government in Kinshasa has struggled to satisfy its many internal constituencies, and it long ago abandoned a 2013 refugee reintegration and reform process in eastern Congo. A longstanding UN peacekeeping force in eastern Congo failed to contain the recent resurgence of M23. Divisions within the East African Community and the Southern African Development Community, which have their own proxies fighting inside Congo, further impede mediation efforts. M23’s recent success on the battlefield is unlikely to produce a repeat of the Rwanda-led coalition’s 1997 march on Kinshasa that toppled the Congo government and ended the first civil war. Mvemba noted, “The M23 is primarily seen as a Tutsi group, Rwanda-backed… and they have no allies inside Congo to help them this time.” With more than one hundred armed groups in eastern Congo and global powers either unwilling or unable to stop the conflict, lasting peace remains out of reach.
If you’re looking to learn more from Mvemba, check out his recent policy brief, “Kenya’s Economic Initiatives in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” and listen to his weekly podcast, Into Africa.
More on:
