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Why Rwanda Unlikely to Follow Macron’s Call Regarding M23 Insurgency in DRC?

© AP Photo / Moses SawasawaM23 rebels
M23 rebels - Sputnik Africa, 1920, 08.05.2024
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Earlier in May, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the rebels of the armed group M23 occupied the city of Rubaya, the center of coltan mining. This happened on the same day French President Emmanuel Macron called on neighboring Rwanda to end its support for the M23.
France's President Emmanuel Macron's calls for Rwanda to stop the alleged aid to M23 are likely to fall on deaf ears as France's position on the continent weakens every day, Azeez Olusola Olaniyan, a professor of Comparative Politics in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria, told Sputnik Africa.

"When it comes to Macron's call, I also have some doubts about the efficacy of that call because France is actually going through a lot of disruption in the ranks and file of its former African colonies. And the influence of France is [...] reducing by the day because of recent happenings in some of the former colonies of France in Africa. [...] And so I do not see how the order to [Rwanda's President Paul] Kagame will be effective," he said.

M23 rebels load a pickup truck in Kibumba, in the eastern of Democratic Republic of Congo, Dec. 23, 2022.  - Sputnik Africa, 1920, 25.02.2024
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Moreover, Olaniyan overall doubts the sincerity of such calls because a number of world powers and countries neighboring the DRC have their own vested interest in instability in this region since the DRC is incredibly rich in reserves of various strategically important minerals and these countries would like to use these resources, as well as large areas of the Central African country.

"So you have the international community, particularly the powers [major world powers], so much interested in even keeping the country perpetually in conflict because of what they will benefit from the place. [...] Most of the rebel groups in the DRC are actually sponsored by countries outside, by some neighboring countries," the expert explained.

Thus, as African countries see these deliberate tactics to destabilize them and hinder their development, the continent turns to other major players like China and Russia, as Olaniyan pointed out.

"Maybe because of the inability of some of the African countries to achieve development, they are now questioning the alliances with the former colonizers, particularly France. [...] We cannot deny the fact that some countries, particularly in Africa, are shifting towards China and Russia because they believe that maybe China or Russia do not have a history of colonialism in Africa. [...] Russia, particularly, has even helped parts of Africa attain independence," he concluded.

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