Togolese President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé, appointed by the African Union as mediator for the Great Lakes crisis, paid a working visit to Luanda on Monday for talks with Angolan President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, the current AU Chairperson.
The meeting comes just days before the upcoming African Union summit and three weeks after the AU unveiled its mediation framework for eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
According to the Togolese presidency, the two leaders held discussions on strengthening bilateral cooperation while also addressing broader regional and continental priorities, including peace, security, stability, and African integration, with particular focus on the Great Lakes region.
The visit follows a high-level meeting held in Lomé on January 16–17, where the AU presented a coordinated mediation architecture for resolving the conflict in eastern DRC. Under this framework, President Gnassingbé oversees the overall mediation process, supported by a Togolese team and a group of former African heads of state assigned to specific thematic areas.
Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo leads military and security issues, while humanitarian concerns fall under former Ethiopian President Sahle-Work Zewde. Dialogue with armed groups is handled by former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, economic cooperation by former Botswanan President Mokgweetsi Masisi, and reconciliation and civil society engagement by former Central African leader Catherine Samba-Panza.
Technical coordination is ensured through a joint secretariat involving regional blocs and the AU, with international partners supporting efforts toward a lasting resolution to the conflict in eastern DRC.
