How do the Virunga Mountains divide the Nile and Congo drainage systems?

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East African mountains and lakes — East African lakes Mountains and lakes of East Africa.

The Virunga Mountains serve as a significant geographic barrier that separates the drainage basins of the Nile River and the Congo River.12

By extending east-west across the Western Rift Valley, the volcanic range acts as a divide between the basins of Lake Edward (which drains into the Nile system) and Lake Kivu (which drains southward into the Congo system via the Ruzizi River and Lake Tanganyika). Geologically, the eruption of the Virunga Mountains blocked the rift, altering the region's hydrology and effectively partitioning these two major continental drainage systems.23