Angola’s capital, Luanda, is currently hosting the 10th conference of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR). Head of State Felix Tshisekedi represents the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) at this meeting, which focuses on the theme of security in this region of Africa.
Convened by Angolan President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, the Luanda conference is an opportunity to take stock of the Luanda roadmap, relating to the insecurity situation in eastern DRC. Two opening speeches marked the ceremony: that of President Lourenço, who announced the holding of a quadripartite meeting, including the East African Community, the CIRGL and the Economic Community of Central African States , under the coordination of the African Union, as well as an intervention by Moussa Faki Mahamat, President of the African Union Commission.
The objective of this conference is to analyze the security situation in eastern Congo, in a context of deterioration of the situation in Khartoum, Sudan. The Heads of State and their representatives present in Luanda will continue their work behind closed doors before releasing a final communiqué.
During this summit, President Tshisekedi campaigned for the economic development of the DRC despite the recurring security challenges. The country’s economic stability, already undermined by the security situation in eastern DRC, however, saw its national currency rise by 0.6% on the official foreign exchange market.
In sum, this major event of the ICGLR accredits the idea of taking into account the security situation in eastern DRC, despite the persistence of economic challenges. The actors of this summit also discussed the situation in Khartoum in Sudan