Leaders of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) are meeting in Cambodia amid a dispute between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda over who should lead the association of French-speaking nations, which threatens to split the group. The OIF is holding a three-day summit in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, through Monday. A loose confederation of 90 states and governments where French is spoken or widely used, the OIF has 53 full members, five associate members and 32 observers. French President Emmanuel Macron, who chaired the last summit in 2024 and will hand the chair to Cambodia, arrived on Saturday and met Prime Minister Hun Manet, The Associated Press news agency reported.
About 20 leaders are expected, including Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Vietnamese President To Lam, Rwandan President Paul Kagame and DRC President Felix Tshisekedi. On Monday, leaders will choose the organisation’s next secretary-general for a four-year term. Rwanda’s Louise Mushikiwabo, who has led the OIF since 2018, is seeking a third term. The DRC, however, which accuses Rwanda of backing the M23 armed group in the country’s east, has threatened to leave the OIF if she is re-elected.
Congo, the United States and United Nations experts say Rwanda backs the M23, one of about 100 armed groups in the mineral-rich region. On Saturday, the DRC withdrew its candidate, Juliana Lumumba, the daughter of independence hero Patrice Lumumba, and backed Romanian former Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos to allow “consensus around a unifying candidacy”. Rwanda’s foreign minister, Olivier Nduhungirehe, said Mushikiwabo would stay in the race. Mauritania’s Coumba Ba, a former minister, is also running, the AFP news agency reported.
Macron’s office said that most members agreed on the need for consensus and that he would take it up with his African counterparts. France is the biggest contributor to the OIF’s 2026 budget of 71.7 million euros ($79m). Rwanda has said Macron asked Kagame to withdraw its candidate and that Kigali refused, AFP reported. The DRC has a population of more than 110 million, roughly 40 million more than France, and is the most populous country where French is an official language.
Its exit would be a blow to the organisation, which lost Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, which announced their withdrawals in March 2025 following suspensions over military coups. The summit’s slogan is “Reinvest in Peace for Shared Prosperity and Lasting Stability”. Activists see it as a chance to press Cambodia, a de facto one-party state, on rights. UN Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews urged delegates to press for the release of detained activists. “No one should be detained for defending human rights, reporting on matters of public concern, or voicing critical opinions,” he said.
Macron arrived as France faces widespread protests at home. He is due to visit the Angkor World Heritage Site on Monday before leaving for Malaysia.
