Rwanda President Paul Kagame and US President Donald Trump. (@PaulKagame/X)
In the week when Donald Trump showed Africa the middle finger by not inviting South Africa to the G20’s first meeting under the US presidency later this month, it was troubling to see two African leaders at the White House seeking solutions to African problems from America.
And from a man who has shown disdain for our continent from the moment he first became president of the US.
The US trip by Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwanda’s Paul Kagame reflects two African leaders who have failed by turning to the West for salvation.
African leaders talk endlessly about African solutions for African problems.
Tshisekedi and Kagame’s trip reflects leadership failure back home – an indictment on Africa and its leaders.
The African Union (AU), the East African Community (EAC), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have all failed to end the standoff between the DRC and Rwanda; hence, Tshisekedi and Kagame went to the US.
Rwanda wants the DRC to neutralise the genocide-accused rebel group FDLR, which operates in the eastern DRC, posing security threats to the neighbouring country.
In return, Rwanda will remove its defensive measures on its border with DRC.
That, in essence, is the peace deal Trump is supposed to rubber-stamp – a deal Africans would have been able to secure if they were serious about African solutions for African problems.
How have the AU, EAC, and SADC failed to get the two leaders to commit to this peace deal, to the point that they are looking to the US for guarantees of peace and security? How do the three African bodies feel when they see their members crossing the Atlantic to look for solutions to problems in their backyard?
Tshisekedi and Kagame have already been to Doha, Qatar, where they committed to peace.
The DRC government and M23 signed a peace framework, but the agreement remains in limbo until all eight protocols are agreed upon.
Only two – one on an unconditional ceasefire and another on the exchange of prisoners – have been signed, but not implemented.
What all these peace attempts lack is the failure of African organs to provide guarantees and incentives for peace and security. The AU has no leverage or incentive to end the conflict, forcing leaders like Tshisekedi and Kagame to look to the US or the European Union for solutions.
But herein lies the problem: the US isn’t in it for charity. Trump wants the minerals in the DRC and wants his Nobel Peace Prize. He doesn’t see the AU playing any meaningful role, so he goes directly to the leaders of the affected countries.
It’s a vote of no confidence in the AU and in Africans.