Macron’s great lakes peace push falters amid gunfire and skepticism over Goma airport plans

At a high-profile Paris conference aimed at stabilising Africa's Great Lakes region, President Emmanuel Macron announced €1.5 billion in humanitarian aid and pledged to reopen the airport in Goma for humanitarian flights.

However, the ambitious initiative met immediate resistance from key regional players. M23 rebels, who control the airport and large parts of North Kivu province, called the plan “inopportune, disconnected from realities on the ground”.

Rwanda’s foreign minister, representing Kigali in Paris, echoed the scepticism, stating: “Goma airport is in the hands of the M23 authorities … You cannot reopen an airport from Paris.”

The aid pledge and airport announcement aimed to lift one of the world’s most entrenched conflicts, but underlying distrust, fresh fighting in eastern DR Congo and weak representation from African heads of state muddied the message. One security source confirmed to Xinhua that clashes resumed near Masisi territory, signalling the fragile nature of peace on the ground.

Experts say that while the aid injection and infrastructure plans are welcome, they must be matched by genuine diplomatic breakthroughs and credible frameworks — not just big announcements. Without addressing root causes and power imbalances, Paris’s push in the Great Lakes may struggle to move beyond slogan to stability.