Special Edition: The DRC Peace Agreement & Sudan's Ceasefire, Annotated.

In a special report for paid subscribers, The Detour breaks down two African agreements signed Friday, and what they actually mean for people on the frontlines.

Welcome to the first-ever Special Edition of The Detour. This is something new and specially made for our community of paid subscribers.

As ever, some stories demand more space, deeper context, and a kind of attention that doesn’t always fit in a typical bi-weekly send. Today, I’m focusing on two developments unfolding in Africa, each shaped by war and power in radically different ways. A U.S.-brokered peace deal between the DRC and Rwanda is being hailed as progress, but some locals see it as non-conflict traded for minerals. In Sudan, a fragile seven-day ceasefire in El Fasher is exposing just how broken — and delayed — the humanitarian response has become.

We’re shaping what these special editions can be, and we’d love your thoughts. Leave a comment below to let us know what resonates. If The Detour has become a source you trust, please consider gifting a subscription to someone who hasn’t found this yet.

Thanks for reading. Let’s get into it.

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Paper Peace and Mineral Riches

Critics warn the U.S.-brokered peace agreement between the DRC and Rwanda may actually reward aggression while prioritizing resource access over justice and reconciliation for victims.

A screenshot of the U.S.-brokered peace deal meeting with representatives from Rwanda, the U.S., and the Democratic Republic of Congo on June 27 in Washington, DC. / Credit: U.S. State Department YouTube.

On Friday, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda signed a U.S.-brokered peace agreement in Washington, aimed at ending three decades of conflict and proxy tensions between the two neighbors since the aftermath of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

But the deal's emphasis on "critical mineral supply chains" for the U.S. and investors raises questions about