The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on Wednesday sanctioned Rwanda’s Ministry of Defence and Zigama Credit and Savings Society, a Rwandan financial institution that Treasury says operates on behalf of the country’s security services. The ministry was designated under Executive Order 13413 for materially supporting the Rwanda Defence Force, which OFAC sanctioned on March 2, 2026, and Treasury said Zigama facilitated payments for weapons, ammunition and training travel for the force and moved tens of millions of dollars for M23 and its political wing, the Congo River Alliance, including gold taken from M23-controlled territory in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said the action makes good on President Trump’s promise to hold Rwanda accountable for its commitments under the Washington Accords for Peace and Prosperity, signed by the Congolese and Rwandan heads of state on December 4, 2025, and that Rwanda must halt its support for M23 and withdraw its troops from eastern DRC. The designations block all property of the ministry and of Zigama that is subject to US jurisdiction and generally bar US persons from dealing with either.