From Libreville’s Palais Rénovation to Paris’s Place de Fontenoy
The marble corridors of Libreville’s Palais Rénovation offered an emblematic stage for Prime Minister Anatole Collinet Makosso’s encounter with Gabon’s transitional head of state, Brigadier General Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema, on 28 July. Officially, the audience concerned bilateral cooperation; substantively, it launched Brazzaville’s full-scale campaign for Firmin Édouard Matoko, the Congolese diplomat whose candidacy for Director-General of UNESCO was registered at the Organisation’s headquarters in early April (Congolese Government Communiqué, 5 April 2024). By travelling in person rather than relying on envoys, Mr Makosso signalled that the matter had crossed the threshold from bureaucratic aspiration to national priority.
Brazzaville-Libreville Axis: Strategic Continuity in Central Africa
Congo-Brazzaville and Gabon have long cultivated a discreet yet resilient partnership, anchored in shared riverine borders, overlapping membership in the Economic Community of Central African States and a parallel need for post-oil economic diversification. President Denis Sassou Nguesso’s message, described as “fraternal” by his Prime Minister, praised Gabon’s management of its political transition and thanked Libreville for the ceremonial warmth shown during Mr Oligui Nguema’s investiture last September. Such courtesies, though formulaic, serve a tactical purpose: they reaffirm convergent interests at a moment when Central Africa seeks to reposition itself within global governance forums.
Firmin Édouard Matoko: A Technocrat as Standard-Bearer
Few UNESCO insiders contest Mr Matoko’s credentials. Over fifteen years he has supervised programmes ranging from the rehabilitation of Palmyra’s ruins in Syria to the safeguarding of Mali’s manuscripts, while also championing intangible heritage files from Cape Verdean morna to Congolese rumba (UNESCO Executive Board 217th session report). His supporters argue that such operational breadth equips him to steer the Organisation through budgetary constraints and geopolitical headwinds. For Brazzaville, the bid is doubly symbolic: it recognises a distinguished civil servant and positions Congo as a conduit for the wider aspirations of Central Africa within the United Nations system.
Securing the Arithmetic of 58 Votes
The UNESCO Executive Board’s 58 members will decide the shortlist in the spring of 2025 before the General Conference casts its final vote. Cognisant that success hinges on granular vote-trading rather than lofty manifestos, Mr Makosso has embarked on a continental tour that will include Abuja, Accra and Dakar, each home to one or more Board members. Diplomats in Brazzaville confirm that the strategy pairs bilateral pledges—scholarship exchanges, cultural festivals, technical training—with the promise of a steward who, in the Prime Minister’s phrase, can “touch the hearts of citizens so that peace may consolidate” (Interview, Libreville, 28 July 2024).
Gabon’s Transitional Governance and Regional Optics
Libreville’s endorsement carries more than symbolic weight. Since the August 2023 change of leadership, Gabon has cultivated a profile of pragmatic reform, pledging elections in 2025 and recalibrating its external alliances (Gabonese Presidency Press Release, 28 July 2024). By backing a Congolese candidate, Mr Oligui Nguema signals continuity in regional solidarity while showcasing Gabon’s diplomatic maturity. For Brazzaville, citing Libreville’s “rigour and vision” underscores a narrative that Central Africa is a zone of stable interlocutors capable of delivering on multilateral responsibilities.
Central Africa’s Bid for Multilateral Prominence
Beyond personal merit, the Matoko candidacy encapsulates an argument for geographic rebalancing. UNESCO has never been led by a national of Central Africa. Should the race narrow to customary heavyweights from Europe or Asia, Brazzaville intends to rally the 25-member African Group and parts of the Non-Aligned Movement around the leitmotif of equitable rotation. The calculus also intersects with Congo’s pursuit of a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2027-2028 term, a campaign already in gestation within African Union corridors.
Looking Ahead to Paris 2025
The UNESCO ballot is still months away, yet early momentum often proves decisive. By investing presidential capital and leveraging a cordial relationship with Gabon’s transitional authorities, Congo-Brazzaville has laid the first brick of a coalition that must eventually span Latin America, the Arab world and segments of Western Europe. Whether that architecture endures the stresses of competing pledges will depend on the finesse of its builders. For now, the red carpet unrolled in Libreville offers a vignette of Central Africa’s growing conviction that it can, and should, shape the multilateral agenda on its own terms.