Youth-led diplomacy crosses the Congo River
On a humid August evening along the Charles-Ebina pedestrian alley, just metres from the swirling river that separates Kinshasa from Brazzaville, Jonathan Lumbeya Masuta stepped before an audience of diplomats, UN officials and carefully selected students to continue what he calls “the upstream current of continental renewal.” The president of the International Forum of African Youth for Africa’s Development (FIJADA), accompanied by a small but disciplined delegation, was not merely paying a courtesy visit; he was exporting the intellectual capital generated on the opposite bank during the International Youth Day round-table of 12 August 2025.
The symbolism of crossing the Congo River was not lost on participants. Historically a border, the waterway was on this occasion a conduit for ideas designed to accelerate Africa’s fulfilment of Agenda 2063. Former National Assembly member José Cyr Ebina, acting as host, set the tone by invoking shared cultural roots and hailing “the Congolese government’s consistent prioritisation of youth capacity-building,” a remark broadly interpreted as an endorsement of President Denis Sassou Nguesso’s recent strategies centred on vocational training and digital literacy.
Kinshasa findings spotlight green entrepreneurship
FIJADA ambassador Deborah Bowa Baïke distilled the Kinshasa deliberations into five operational axes: environmental education, eco-entrepreneurship, access to green technologies, youth inclusion in decision-making and community mobilisation. Her presentation echoed the UN Environment Programme’s 2024 Africa Youth Survey, which lists Congo-Brazzaville among the countries “with rising climate-aware enterprise potential” (UNEP 2024). Masuta, citing the same document, argued that the continent’s median age of nineteen offers a demographic advantage that can be converted into a comparative technological edge “if the right mentorship circuits are installed.”
Brazzaville’s municipal authorities, represented by deputy mayor Élise Bouanga, signalled institutional receptivity. She recalled the city’s pilot solar-powered street-lighting scheme, financed in part through the Central African Forest Initiative, as evidence that local governance structures are increasingly prepared to integrate youth proposals. Observers noted that this alignment between civic programmes and FIJADA’s platform could facilitate the scaling of small-scale biochar, urban agriculture and circular-economy projects championed at the Kinshasa forum.
Governmental alignment and regional policy coherence
The Republic of Congo’s Ministry of Youth and Civic Education was not formally represented, yet messages of support were conveyed through the Council Advisory on Youth. Their spokesperson emphasised that the national development plan for 2022-2026 earmarks a significant share of public-investment expenditure for youth-led start-ups, mirroring FIJADA’s call for catalytic seed funding. Analysts from the Economic Commission for Central Africa present in the audience noted that such coherence enhances Brazzaville’s standing in continental peer reviews under the African Union’s Country Review Mechanism (AU Commission 2023).
Diplomatic observers stressed that the event reinforced Congo’s narrative as a stable interlocutor in regional youth affairs, a narrative that aligns with President Sassou Nguesso’s mediation record in Central African crises. By providing an enabling platform rather than imposing a top-down blueprint, the Congolese authorities cultivate what a UNDP official described as a “facilitative sovereignty” model (UNDP 2024), allowing non-state actors like FIJADA to amplify developmental messaging while preserving governmental prerogatives.
Visa regimes and continental mobility: a generational priority
A spirited exchange unfolded on the perennial question of African visa regimes. Delegates from Gabon and Cameroon underscored the economic cost of restrictive travel policies, referencing the Africa Visa Openness Index that still ranks several Central African states in the lower quartile (AfDB 2024). Masuta argued that easing mobility for entrepreneurs under thirty would dovetail with the African Continental Free Trade Area’s objective of intra-African market expansion. Brazzaville students went further, requesting a dedicated ‘green innovators visa’, an idea welcomed by Daniel Biangoud, formally installed as FIJADA’s Congo representative at the close of the meeting.
Though no policy commitments were made, diplomatic sources suggested that Congo-Brazzaville is considering limited visa-fee waivers for participants in AU-endorsed youth programmes, a measure that could be unveiled during the next cycle of national reforms. Such incremental steps point to a convergence between civil-society advocacy and state-led regional integration, reflecting a broader continental trend identified by the Institute for Security Studies as “multilayered governance of mobility.”
Toward a Brazzaville summit and continental resonance
Masuta ended the evening by expressing a desire to convene FIJADA’s 2026 round-table in Brazzaville. Local observers believe the prospect is credible, given the city’s upgraded conference infrastructure following the recent modernisation of the Palais des Congrès. Hosting duties would position Congo as a fulcrum of youth diplomacy in Central Africa, reinforcing its contribution to global climate negotiations where it has consistently advocated rainforest protection.
Whether or not the summit materialises, the Brazzaville session demonstrated that youth-driven diplomacy can serve as an agile complement to traditional statecraft. By weaving environmental stewardship, entrepreneurship and mobility into a single narrative, FIJADA’s trans-river initiative has not only amplified the findings of the Kinshasa round-table but has also dovetailed neatly with Congo’s own strategic aspirations for inclusive and sustainable nation-building.