NAIROBI, Feb 19 (Reuters) – Rwanda’s sole international government bond fell by the biggest margin since August 2022 on Wednesday, as worries over fighting in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo, where Rwanda backs M23 rebels, intensified.

The 1.7 cent fall in the 2031-maturing bond left it at 79 cents, its lowest level since January 2024.

Late last month, the M23 rebels seized Goma, the largest city in eastern Congo, and fighting has since spread to other areas as the group tries to capture more territory.

United Nations human rights office also accused M23 rebels on Tuesday of executing children in eastern Congo during their advance.

Rwanda’s government in Kigali meanwhile said it was suspending development co-operation with Belgium, accusing Brussels of working jointly with the Congo to “sabotage” Rwanda’s access to development finance, including from multilateral institutions.

This M23 advance is the gravest escalation in more than a decade of the long-running conflict in eastern Congo, rooted in the spillover of Rwanda’s 1994 genocide into Congo and the struggle for control of Congo’s vast minerals resources.

Rwanda rejects allegations from Congo, the UN and Western powers that it supports M23 with arms and troops. It says it is defending itself against the threat from a Hutu militia, which it says is fighting with the Congolese military.

The conflict risks driving up Rwanda’s debt costs and weakening its currency, credit ratings agency S&P said earlier this month.

(Reporting by Duncan Miriri; editing by Marc Jones)