On September 20, 1976, the presidents of Zaire (
Mobutu Sese Seko), Rwanda (
Juvénal Habyarimana), and Burundi (
Jean-Baptiste Bagaza) signed the agreement establishing the Economic Community of the Great Lakes Countries (CEPGL) in the Rwandan city of
Gisenyi. In 1994, the crisis in Burundi and the
genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda deeply destabilized the organization. By 1996, all agreements were suspended after Zaire’s territorial sovereignty was violated by forces from the
Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (AFDL) and the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA). Efforts to revive the CEPGL began in 2004, initiated by Belgian Foreign Minister
Louis Michel, and gathered pace in 2008. The relaunch was officially confirmed in August 2010 during a meeting between Presidents
Kagame of Rwanda and
Nkurunziza of Burundi. In August 2022, representatives from eleven Central African states agreed in
Yaoundé to merge three regional economic blocs—CEEAC, CEMAC, and CEPGL—into a single organization. The CEPGL's mission is to promote regional economic integration by enabling the free movement of people, goods, and capital, while also contributing to regional security. It supports joint institutions in sectors such as finance, research, and energy. The CEPGL controls the following institutions: • Development Bank of the Great Lakes States (BDEGL) • Economic Community of the Great Lakes Countries for Energy (EGL) • Institute for Agricultural Research and Animal Husbandry (IRAZ) •
International Electricity Company of the Great Lakes Countries (SINELAC) ==See also==