In the DRC, around 74% of the population lives in extreme poverty, living on less than $2.15 per day. Photo: Alexis Huguet/AFP
After more than three decades of conflict in eastern Congo, fuelled by over 100 armed groups, there is finally a glimmer of hope. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda recently signed a landmark peace agreement brokered by the US.
This event signals a turning point in a region, long shaped by violence and lost opportunities. The DRC and the Congo River Alliance/March 23 Movement (AFC/M23) have also signed a “Declaration of Principles”, which lays the groundwork for parallel efforts to achieve a ceasefire and the restoration of state authority.
However, the true measure of success will not lie in the signing ceremonies but rather in whether these agreements lead to tangible improvements in the lives of ordinary citizens. This requires going beyond ceasefire and disarmament, towards human-centred recovery and stabilisation efforts that focus on shared prosperity and rebuilding trust between communities fractured by violence.
The Great Lakes region, as per the “Communauté Economique de Pays des Grands Lacs Region” framework, made up of the DRC, Rwanda and Burundi, remains deeply affected by poverty.
In the DRC, around 74% of the population lives in extreme poverty, living on less than $2.15 per day, while in Burundi, the rate is around 63%. In Rwanda, the poverty rate stands at 27.4% according to the National Institute of Statistics, drawing from Rwanda’s 2024 Integrated household living conditions survey, representing a reduction of 12.4% over a period of 7 years.
In the region, the human suffering caused by the conflict has been immense. Millions have either been killed or displaced and key infrastructure has been neglected and destroyed. In eastern DRC, a lack of investment in basic service infrastructure, such as health facilities, water, sanitation and schools, has further deepened poverty and vulnerability. Compounding this desperate situation, the region faces shared climate risks, such as intense seasonal rainfall and floods that trigger deadly landslides and cause further destruction.
These staggering vulnerabilities exist against the backdrop of vast potential. In the DRC, natural resource wealth and untapped mineral reserves are estimated to be worth $24 trillion, yet nearly $1 billion worth of minerals are lost annually due to poor systems and conflicts.
Meanwhile, Rwanda has been steadily developing its own production and value-added capacity that could complement the raw resource base of neighbouring countries, hence providing an opportunity for economic cooperation in the region. While the DRC-Rwanda deal places emphasis on military and security measures, it also introduces an important regional economic integration framework that could prove critical to securing long-term peace in the Great Lakes region.
By building economic interdependence through joint management of shared assets, such as hydro-power infrastructure (i.e. Lake Kivu and Ruzizi River), and coordinated regulation, trade and extraction of minerals, the countries can generate mutually beneficial growth, thus reducing the likelihood of future conflict. This framework for economic integration can model the formation of the European Coal and Steel Community, established on the heels of World War II to bind the economies of Europe together, raise the cost of conflict and usher in an unprecedented era of regional economic growth and cooperation.
Furthermore, the reconstruction of these conflict-affected areas can be approached in a way that connects the three countries through transport and trade. Regional transport corridors and cross-border special economic zones would physically and economically connect the neighbouring countries, reducing isolation and mistrust, to accelerate economic recovery.
Similar stabilisation initiatives, such as those implemented in the Boko Haram-affected Lake Chad Basin, including the border areas of Cameroon and Nigeria, demonstrate that having functional socio-economic infrastructure and cross-border economic revitalisation activities not only boosts trade and economic growth but also contributes to regional stability.
Importantly, profits generated from these economic ventures could be reinvested locally through expanded access to social and economic services such as education, healthcare, clean water, local markets, agricultural production, livestock and employment, prioritising the youth, as well as social cohesion activities that rebuild trust between communities. Investing in the development of local communities will ensure that the symbolic promise of the deal translates into concrete dividends of peace and shared prosperity that improves the livelihoods and living conditions of millions of citizens impacted by decades of conflict.
Transparent governance through economic oversight mechanisms and equitable revenue distribution is essential to unlocking long-term stability.
It is crucial to recognise that security and military measures should be accompanied by substantial social and economic investments in local populations. Rebuilding a fractured social fabric and restoring trust between communities requires inclusive development and the promotion of shared interests. Likewise, without peace, and security of person and property, development and social transformation are impossible — peace, security and economic development are intrinsically linked, each reinforcing and sustaining the others.
Previous initiatives aimed at fostering economic integration and political cooperation — such as the Economic Community of the Great Lakes Countries, established in 1976 by the DRC (then Zaire), Rwanda and Burundi — have largely stagnated due to recurring conflict. After the guns have gone silent and the foundation for long-term peace and stability is firmly laid, revitalising such efforts will require a renewed emphasis on inclusive, people-centred economic cooperation that delivers tangible benefits to communities across borders and helps rebuild trust among member states.
Given the recent peace agreement signed between DRC and Rwanda signed in Washington focuses on bilateral economic cooperation, it represents a great opportunity to revitalise a 2.0 Economic Community of the Great Lakes Countries model, one that could catalyse regional economic growth and shared prosperity while also focusing on peace and security.
In this context, partners such as the US and UN, and regional bodies such as the East-African Community, can play a pivotal role by aligning infrastructure investments and capital flows with clear, measurable benchmarks tied to the peace agreement.
If, after peace has been restored, economic integration is managed jointly, transparently and equitably, Rwanda and the DRC have a golden opportunity to leverage economic integration as both a powerful deterrent to renewed conflict and a foundation for long-term resilience and shared prosperity.
In conclusion, I argue that, in the context of peace and stability, deepening economic integration will bring communities into closer cooperation, not just economically, but also socially through shared interests and mutual benefits.
Jean-Luc Stalon is a senior UN official working for the UN Development Programme. He is a development practitioner with three decades of experience in Africa, Asia and the Pacific. He is the author of the book Elitist Growth: Proposition of a New Index on Equalities. He can be reached on Twitter @JLStalon.