A year after the capture of Goma by AFC-M23 rebels, the city still bears the scars of a brutal conflict which has disrupted its economic and social fabric.
Shops gutted, banks closed, populations traumatized: daily life remains difficult. However, despite the ruins and political uncertainty, some residents are choosing to get back up.
January 27, 2025 remains engraved in the collective memory of the inhabitants of Goma. That day, the city fell into the hands of AFC-M23 fighters. In the confusion that followed, scenes of looting and ransacking multiplied. Many businesses were emptied, sometimes razed, leaving behind ruined entrepreneurs and families plunged into precariousness.
Gentil Mutumayi is one of these victims. As a young entrepreneur, he saw his store completely looted in a few hours. Even today, he keeps videos on his phone filmed by passers-by, helpless witnesses to the chaos.
"There were televisions, computers, lots of accessories, phones... But that day, everything was taken away. They went so far as to take part of the door; the one you see here is new", he says, pointing to the barely restored walls of his business.
Like him, many traders have lost everything. Some were never able to get up. Gentil made another choice: to start again, despite everything. A year later, his store reopened, modest, far from pre-war activity, but standing.
"People are short of money and banks remain closed. Money no longer circulates as before", he explains lucidly.
The prolonged closure of banks is suffocating the local economy. Transactions are mainly carried out in cash, investments are almost non-existent and the recovery remains timid. In this context, surviving becomes a daily challenge.
Faced with the scale of needs, local solidarity is being organized. In Goma, community associations are trying to fill the void left by the absence of institutional aid. They support families most affected by looting, internally displaced people and people without income.
Landry Mathe, coordinator of the Agissons Ensemble organization, recognizes the limits of their action, but refuses to give up:
"So far, we have few resources. We try to support financially, with fundraising in our groups and online, to help the most vulnerable", he explains.
These local initiatives, although modest, play a crucial role in a city where humanitarian aid remains insufficient and public structures operate slowly.
For their part, the AFC-M23 authorities, who still control Goma, claim to have taken measures to revive the economy. According to Désiré Ngabo, deputy mayor appointed by the movement, a tax reform has been initiated:
"We have reduced taxes, from 500 to 200, to revive the economy and allow young people to be able to do business", he says.
On the ground, these announcements are still struggling to translate into a concrete improvement in living conditions. Residents remain cautious, aware of the fragility of the security and political context.
A year after the fall of the city, Goma remains under the control of the AFC-M23, while regional and international diplomatic initiatives have not yet resulted in a lasting solution.
But beyond political calculations, a reality emerges: that of a population that refuses to sink. In markets that are timidly reopening, in shops rebuilt with the strength of courage, in everyday gestures of solidarity, resilience has become an act of survival.
