Togo has chosen to break with declaratory diplomacy surrounding the crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The high-level meeting held on 17 January marked a clear determination to reorganize African action and test its real effectiveness. At the heart of this initiative lies a simple but decisive requirement: delivering results.
As eastern DRC remains one of the continent’s most persistent conflict theatres, Lomé asserted itself on Saturday, 17 January, as a space for political clarification. By hosting the high-level meeting, Togo did not seek to multiply symbols but to refocus African action on its recurring weak point: implementation.
Led by Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé, President of the Council of the Togolese Republic and the African Union’s designated mediator, the Lomé process fits within a logic of accountability.
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The objective was not to add yet another framework, but to interrogate the continent’s collective capacity to organise its peace mechanisms and assume their political consequences.
A Diplomacy of Method
The 17 January meeting formed part of a carefully prepared diplomatic build-up. A day earlier, a technical session aligned the various actors involved, clarified roles, and structured priorities. This preparatory phase reflects a deliberate break from usual practice: here, method precedes announcement, and coordination takes precedence over staging.
In an African environment marked by the coexistence of multiple mediation initiatives, Lomé advances a clear position: dispersion weakens action. The proliferation of formats around the Congolese crisis has diluted responsibilities and undermined strategic clarity. In response, Togo is advocating a simplified, well-piloted, and coherent architecture capable of linking political decision-making, institutional coordination, and operational implementation.
This approach reflects a firm conviction: Africa lacks neither diagnoses nor commitments, but rather continuity in action. The Lomé meeting, therefore, aims to close the gap between diplomatic discourse and its concrete effects on the ground.
Political Accountability and a Results-Driven Imperative
The message delivered in Lomé was unequivocal. Peace can no longer be measured by the number of meetings held or communiqués issued. It must be judged by tangible outcomes: improved population security, access to essential services, territorial stabilisation, and the restoration of trust.
From this perspective, African mediation is being called upon to change register. The task is no longer to innovate institutionally, but to ensure that existing mechanisms work with rigour. Clarifying decision-making chains, strengthening coordination among actors, and embedding action over time become the minimum conditions for credibility.
By placing Lomé at the centre of this renewed dynamic, Togo has adopted a demanding posture: that of a facilitator who rejects comfort diplomacy and holds all actors accountable. The 17 January meeting thus emerges as a pivotal moment, not because of its symbolism, but because of the scrutiny it applies to African action itself.
For the continent, the challenge is now clear: to demonstrate that peace can be conceived, led, and consolidated by Africa – not merely as a principle, but as a sustainable practice.
By Kwaku Sakyi-Danso