The Congo River Alliance (French: Alliance Fleuve Congo; AFC) is a Congolese rebel coalition led by former Independent National Electoral Commission President Corneille Nangaa. The coalition consists of armed opposition groups and political parties that seek to overthrow the internationally recognised government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The coalition's principal member is the March 23 Movement (M23), a Rwandan-backed rebel group which has been the target of economic sanctions by the United States and United Nations.[2]
In February 2023, he announced the formation of a new political party, the Action for the Dignity of Congo and its People (ADCP), with a platform focused on transforming the DRC into a "business land." He planned to run candidates at all levels for the upcoming 2023 general election,[4] including running for the presidency himself. He later engaged in a public dispute with Tshisekedi over the alleged backroom deals linked to the 2018 vote, and in August 2023, exiled himself from the country, believing his security was no longer guaranteed there.[3][5]
On 15 December 2023, a few days before the 2023 elections, Nangaa signed an agreement in Nairobi, Kenya with M23 and nine other armed groups, forming a new political-military alliance at achieving "national unity and stability" in the DRC. Nangaa criticized the inability of the government to maintain authority, promising to restore stability and create a more suitable economic environment. Nangaa also denounced the "plundering of public property" and "misappropriation of funds".[6][7]
M23 called the new alliance a platform for peace, while the ruling party called it a "kind of a rebellion". The Kenyan government distanced itself from Nangaa's actions but rejected the DRC's request to arrest the opposition figures on the basis of freedom of speech. Nangaa later announced that his platform comprised 17 political parties, two political groupings, and several armed groups.[6][7]
On 25 July 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on the Congo River Alliance.[2]
On 8 August 2024, a DRC military court tried and sentenced Nangaa in absentia to the death penalty for war crimes, participation in an insurrection, and treason.[9]
On 30 November 2024, the group rejected a ceasefire that was mediated by Angola under the African Union's mandate, accusing the Kinshasa government of violating the truce.[10]
On 25 January 2025, the group called on "all members of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) present in Goma and its surroundings to lay down their weapons within 48 hours". One of its members, M23, recently captured Sake, a strategic town 27 kilometres from Goma, suggesting that the group might move imminently to capture the city.[11]
After two days of fighting, on 27 January 2025, M23 claimed to have captured Goma, the capital of North Kivu. In an interview before the offensive on the city, Nangaa said, "Our objective is neither Goma nor Bukavu but Kinshasa, the source of all the problems."[12]
On 9 March 2025, the Front Commun de la Résistance (FCR)—a coalition of the FPP-AP and Mapenzi's Nduma Défense du Congo-Rénové (NDC-R) formally aligned with M23, AFC units, and joined the Congo River Alliance.[15]
On 19 March 2025, the M23 movement took control of Walikale, but claimed to have withdrawn from the area three days later.[16][17]
Territory held by the Congo River Alliance shown in pink
The AFC controls around 34,000 square kilometers of territory in the North Kivu and South Kivu areas including the provincial capitals of Goma and Bukavu.[19] Other towns controlled include Bunagana, Kiwanja,[20]Kitchanga,[21]Rubaya[22] and Rutshuru, which the M23 already captured before the foundation of the Congo River Alliance.[23][24] The AFC seeks to create an autonomous region in the DRC.[6]
On August 12, AFC announced plans to create a judicial system in their territory. Bertrand Bisimwa, the civilian president and political leader of M23, and AFC leader Corneille Nangaa named 25 members to a commission that will set up courts and tribunals.[6] The AFC has appointed the following as rival governors:
The Congo River Alliance advocated for tax cuts and for lower tariffs.[28] However they began to charge a tax of 15% on the value of the coltan production[29] and also on cassiterite.[30] In July the M23 a group which is part of the Congo River Alliance had announced taxes like market stall taxes in there territories.[31] Some months before the Democratic Republic of Congo central government imposed a entry taxes on M23 goods.[32][33] When AFC seized Goma and Bukavu, banks shut down, according to the United Nations (UN) no banks operate in territory under AFC control.[6]
Reaction
The United Nations Security Council through Resolution 2773 adopted in February 2025, called on M23 to stop all of its offensives and to reverse the creation of parallel state institutions.
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