One week after reopening the General Savings Bank of Congo (CADECO) in Goma, the leadership of the AFC/M23 movement has officially launched a new branch in Bukavu, in a bold effort to restore financial services in eastern DRC and challenge what it calls President Félix Tshisekedi’s “economic war” on the region.
The ceremony, held Monday in Bukavu, drew senior figures from the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC) and M23 administration, as well as local community leaders.
It marks a significant step in M23’s strategy to stabilize daily life in territories under its control and provide an alternative economic system amid Kinshasa’s disengagement.
Corneille Nangaa, political coordinator of the AFC and former head of the Congolese electoral commission, has emerged as a leading voice against what he describes as “deliberate financial suffocation” imposed by the central government.
Speaking last week during the CADECO relaunch in Goma, Nangaa condemned the closure of commercial banks in North and South Kivu, stating that it was a political maneuver meant to punish civilians living in so-called “liberated provinces.”
“The money held by the commercial banks does not belong to the bankers or the Congolese state,” Nangaa declared. “It belongs to the savers—economic operators, civil servants, investors, and the Congolese people. Mr. Tshisekedi must stop acting as if it is his to withhold.”
According to Nangaa, Kinshasa ordered bank managers to vacate rebel-controlled areas, triggering a liquidity crisis that left ATMs non-functional and cut off formal access to cash.
With local commerce paralyzed, many residents have turned to high-risk informal money channels or crossed borders to access funds, raising fears of capital flight and further economic destabilization.
“This economic delinquency by Mr. Tshisekedi is not only unconstitutional and illegal—it amounts to crimes against humanity,” Nangaa said. “Yet the silence of the international community is both shocking and shameful.”
The relaunch of CADECO under M23’s administration is intended to fill the financial void left by commercial banks and serve as a mechanism to revive trade, facilitate local payments, and offer financial services to citizens and businesses across M23-controlled zones.
While Kinshasa continues to label M23 as a terrorist organization and accuses it of undermining national sovereignty, the movement insists it is providing governance in areas abandoned by the state.
M23 authorities framed the Bukavu relaunch as a signal of stability and hope, declaring that “when peace reigns, development naturally follows.”
With tensions still high and economic uncertainty looming, the relaunch of CADECO in eastern DRC symbolizes a deepening divide—not just militarily, but also financially—between Kinshasa and the breakaway regions under M23’s control.
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