His visit was confirmed by his spokesperson, Rosine Gatoni, noting that he is attending the 9th Ordinary International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), scheduled for this Saturday.

During the conference, a meeting is also planned between Évariste Ndayishimiye and Félix Antoine Tshisekedi to discuss the military cooperation that has existed for more than two years between the two countries.

The military cooperation between the two nations began in 2023, when Burundi deployed more than 10,000 troops to eastern DR Congo to help the country in its war against the AFC/M23 rebels.

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Since the beginning of this year, M23 has captured key areas, including the cities of Goma and Bukavu as well as Kavumu Airport, after pushing out a coalition of forces that included both DR Congo’s national army and Burundian troops.

In recent months, the Kinshasa forces, supported by Burundian troops, have intensified airstrikes against these rebels led by Major General Sultani Makenga in an effort to prevent them from seizing the city of Uvira  the second largest in South Kivu  and from advancing out of the Kivus to potentially expand the territory they control into provinces such as Tanganyika, Maniema, and Tshopo.