PEACE FOR AFRICA SHOULD BE MADE IN AFRICA
By Gregory Mofu
Growing up in the 1990s, I witnessed Zambia stand tall as a beacon of peace, not just in the region, but across the African continent. Under the leadership of our then president, Frederick Chiluba, Zambia played a central role in promoting dialogue, mediating conflicts, and hosting peace negotiations that shaped the course of nations.
Zambia was not just known as a peaceful country; it was the headquarters of peace in southern Africa. We watched with pride as our capital, Lusaka, hosted landmark agreements like the Lusaka Protocol, which brought together Angolan President Eduardo dos Santos and UNITA rebel leader Jonas Savimbi in a bid to end the protracted civil war in Angola.
We also witnessed Congo’s newly installed president, Dr. Laurent Désiré Kabila, sign peace accords with over 18 rebel groups, right here in Lusaka. These moments were not mere political events; they were affirmations of Zambia’s identity as a stabilizing force and an honest broker in times of crisis.
It is against that legacy that yesterday’s event in Washington stands out sharply. The presidents of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Republic of Rwanda flew to Washington, D.C. to sign a peace deal brokered by Donald Trump. At the ceremony, Trump hailed the signing as “a great day for Africa, a great day for the world.” He said the agreement marked a breakthrough: “Today, we’re succeeding where so many others have failed.” But he did not stop at rhetoric, he framed the deal as an economic opportunity.
Trump announced that the U.S. would sign bilateral agreements with Congo and Rwanda to give American companies access to the region’s rich rare-earth and critical mineral reserves. “We’ll be involved with sending some of our biggest and greatest U.S. companies over to the two countries,” he said. “Everybody’s going to make a lot of money.”
That contrast, between how African conflicts used to be resolved and how this one was, raises hard questions. Why do African leaders need foreign backers or foreign capitals to broker peace? Cities like Lusaka, Nairobi, Addis Ababa, Pretoria, capitals with long traditions of African diplomacy, could serve as neutral grounds for negotiations. Yet instead, we now see peace deals signed thousands of kilometres away, in boardrooms where politics and mineral wealth intersect.
I believe Africa needs to reclaim its voice in peacemaking. We once led our own mediations not because we wanted profit, but because we valued justice, regional stability, and human dignity. If we are to truly resolve our conflicts, perhaps it is time for our leaders to reclaim that role, to bring negotiations home, on African soil, and on African terms.