Steering Committee Endorses Expanded Youth Ambition
On 26 December in Brazzaville the steering committee of the Social Protection and Productive Inclusion of Youth Project, better known by its French acronym PSIPJ, convened for its third ordinary session. Chaired by Sylvain Lekaka, Chief of Staff to the Minister of Economy, Planning and Regional Integration, the meeting adopted the 2026 Work Plan and Budget. The document lifts the programme’s sights toward 45 000 direct beneficiaries next year—40 000 aspiring entrepreneurs and 5 000 trainees in skills identified as priority for the national labour market.
The decision crowns a year of consolidation during which, according to internal monitoring data presented to the committee, the project reached roughly 28 000 youths with seed grants, mentoring or short-cycle training. Those numbers, although provisional, place the Republic of Congo among the CEMAC countries that have maintained youth-employment spending despite the lingering macro-fiscal strains triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic (World Bank regional economic update).
Financing Architecture and Fiscal Safeguards
PSIPJ, formerly branded Lisungi, is supported by a US$100 million credit and grant envelope approved by the World Bank in two tranches, in 2020 and through additional financing in 2023 (World Bank project appraisal document). Domestically, the counterpart contribution stems from Programme 19 of the 2024-2026 Medium Term Expenditure Framework, reflecting the government’s pledge to allocate at least 1 % of GDP to social protection instruments.
For the 2026 exercise the work plan schedules 58 activities with an aggregate ceiling of 44 121 839 387 CFA francs, of which 61 % are earmarked for cash transfer top-ups and toolkits for micro-enterprises, 24 % for vocational curricula, and the remainder for monitoring, evaluation and grievance redress. Procurement procedures will follow the Bank’s ‘Regulations for IPF Borrowers’, a safeguard repeatedly highlighted by Mr Lekaka as creating the transparency conditions required by domestic oversight institutions such as the Court of Accounts.
Digital Registry: Cornerstone of Targeting Accuracy
The committee placed the rollout of the Unified Social Registry at the top of its risk matrix. This biometric platform, currently in pilot phase in Brazzaville, Pointe-Noire and the Plateaux Department, is expected to integrate disparate databases from health insurance, civil status offices and education grants. By cross-checking welfare indicators the registry should shorten verification delays and curb duplication—an issue that, according to a 2022 audit, inflated beneficiary lists by nearly 7 %.
Technical support is being provided by the World Bank’s Identification for Development initiative and by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, which has shared open-source modules. Once the registry achieves national coverage, provincial social-affairs units will be able to certify an applicant within seventy-two hours, a leap from the current average of three weeks.
Training Supply Chain Faces Procurement Bottlenecks
While applauding the increase in quantitative targets, several committee members pointed to practical obstacles. Delays in selecting training providers and coaching agencies have already pushed back the start of the 2025 cohort by two months. Logistics have also proven delicate: kits for solar-installation apprentices have been stuck in Pointe-Noire’s port because of congestion, and part of the sewing-machine batch bound for Ouésso will require re-tendering after quality-control rejection.
The Secretariat assured stakeholders that mitigation measures are underway. Expedited framework contracts are to be signed with the National Agency for Vocational Training (ANFOP) and with two accredited private institutes. In addition, the Ministry of Transport has granted priority handling for PSIPJ consignments, a decision welcomed by youth representatives present at the session.
Government Commitment and Regional Synergies
Minister of Economy, Planning and Regional Integration Ingrid Olivia Ebouka-Babackas, in a written message read by Mr Lekaka, framed PSIPJ as a ‘flagship of equitable growth’ aligned with the 2022-2026 National Development Plan and the African Union Agenda 2063. She underscored that Congo’s demographic structure—where citizens under thirty comprise nearly 65 % of the population—turns youth-centred policies from social appeasement tools into macro-economic imperatives.
Beyond national borders, the project dovetails with the CEMAC Strategy for Human Capital, allowing eventual portability of the digital registry and mutual recognition of vocational certificates. The African Development Bank, which finances a parallel SME support line, has signalled its readiness to co-finance incubation hubs in Dolisie and Impfondo starting 2025.
Measured Optimism for 2026 Milestones
Experts consulted by our newsroom note that PSIPJ’s shift toward productive inclusion mirrors global best practice where cash assistance is paired with market-relevant skills. ‘The concept recognises that grants alone seldom translate into durable livelihoods without mentoring and access to equipment,’ observes Diane Mayoukou, labour-economics lecturer at Marien-Ngouabi University. She nonetheless warns that the impact will hinge on timely reimbursements of transport and nutrition stipends, elements vital to attendance rates.
For now, authorities insist the programme remains on course. Concluding the session, Mr Lekaka called for ‘unrelenting commitment from every link of the chain so that Congolese youth may fully seize the promise of the green and digital transitions.’ With the budget endorsed and donor financing secured, the coming months will test the country’s administrative agility. If the remaining bottlenecks are cleared, 2026 could mark a pivotal chapter in the Republic of Congo’s efforts to convert its demographic dividend into inclusive, sustainable growth.