One Year Under M23 Control: Goma’s Economic Struggle Amid Rebel Occupation

One year after M23 militants stormed into Goma, the rebel group still maintains control of eastern Congo’s main city while residents adapt to a new economic reality marked by hardship and resilience.

The physical scars from the January 2025 fighting between the Congolese army and M23 remain visible throughout Goma. While daily life has gradually resumed a veneer of normalcy – with markets functioning and people adapting to their circumstances – there has been no meaningful economic recovery for the city’s residents.

The closure of banks followed by the shutdown of Goma’s international airport has severely crippled economic activity, plunging thousands of households into deepening poverty. Downtown Goma’s once-bustling banking district now stands as the most striking symbol of this new reality – financial institutions shuttered, ATMs out of service, and bank signs powered off.

“Today, we pay up to 3.5% for each withdrawal,” explains Grâce Omari, a resident of the Chaumage neighborhood, referring to the mobile phone money transfer services that have become the only financial lifeline for many. “These are significant sums for families who have almost no income left.”

The Rwanda-backed M23 is the most powerful among more than 100 armed groups vying for control of mineral-rich eastern Congo near the Rwandan border. This ongoing conflict has created one of the world’s most significant humanitarian crises, with more than 7 million people displaced according to the UN refugee agency.

Following a sharp escalation of fighting in early 2025, M23 rebels captured Goma, which has remained under their control ever since. The economic impact has been devastating for a city that once served as a commercial hub for the region.

At the nearby Kituku Market, Goma’s main trading center, activity continues but has lost much of its vibrancy. On Mondays, traditionally the busiest market day, local boats dock at the pier, unloading food products from surrounding rural areas that are quickly arranged in market stalls. Women sell vegetables, flour, secondhand clothing and other basic necessities, but many do so with a mechanical weariness.

“We buy at high prices, but we hardly sell anything. Customers have no money left. Our children don’t even go to school anymore,” said Espérance Mushashire, a 44-year-old mother of 12 who sells vegetables at the market. She remembers a time when her family lived with dignity, but says those days are gone – now many potential customers only inquire about prices before leaving empty-handed.

In the Mugunga neighborhood on Goma’s outskirts, daily life unfolds with an almost resigned quietness. Residents like Agathe Hanghi have seen their livelihoods completely upended.

“Before, I sold things, I earned money, and that allowed me to eat and get medical treatment. But now, there’s no money left. All my savings are gone, and what little was left, the M23 rebels came and took from here at home,” Hanghi said.

Like many families across Goma, Hanghi’s children no longer attend school. Priorities have been reduced to bare essentials: food, shelter, and day-to-day survival. “We don’t know what to do anymore,” she added.

At the university, economics professor Deo Bengeya teaches students while attempting to analyze a situation that defies conventional economic models. He describes an economy paralyzed by the absence of financial institutions – without banks, recovery remains virtually impossible with no access to credit, no investment opportunities, and no means to safeguard savings.

“The economy of the city of Goma after its fall is in a very critical state,” Bengeya told The Associated Press. “The purchasing power of the population has fallen, some residents have fled the city, wages have fallen, and unemployment has risen.”

The prolonged occupation has created a bifurcated reality for Goma’s residents. While the surface appearance of normal life has returned to parts of the city, the underlying economic foundation has been severely damaged. Without functioning banks or the international connections provided by the airport, the city’s once-thriving commercial sector has been cut off from both capital and markets.

A year after Goma’s fall to the rebels, the inhabitants move forward in small steps, driven by a single certainty: the obligation to continue living, even when the future remains uncertain. The resilience of Goma’s people stands in stark contrast to the deteriorating economic conditions they face, as they struggle to maintain dignity and hope under rebel occupation.