Kivu, Bridge between Atlantic and Indian Oceans Note de l'Ifri, April 2009

Summary : In the last fifteen years, the Kivus have been prey to a series of violent episodes that have led to humanitarian crises of great magnitude. Mechanisms of economic predation, land issues, interference from neighboring countries, or ethnic issues have often been cited to explain this environment of insecurity, and the fact that economic relations between the West and East of the DRC are now limited. At the same time, the economic dynamism of the Indian Ocean countries has been strengthened by strong growth of the internal market, and the development of new Afro-Asian relations. Today, traders in Goma, Bukavu and Butembo are integrated into this space, and the ports of Mombasa or Dar-es-Salaam have become "natural" outlets for the Kivus. This note aims to analyze the evolution of the Kivus in the new geo-economic landscape of the Great Lakes region.

Cyril Musila, Doctor in Social Sciences from EHESS, Paris, Professor at Paris' Catholic Institute and EISTI (Cergy, France). He is co-founder of the Observatory on post-conflict reconstruction in the Great Lakes region