Author: Arsene Mbala

A strategic turning point for technical education In a political climate that values administrative modernisation, the Republic of Congo has embarked on a major overhaul of its public technical and vocational schools. From 20 to 22 October 2025, almost one hundred officials, educators and local leaders gathered in Brazzaville for a national workshop devoted to the installation of School Management Committees, better known by their French acronym COGES. Opened by Minister of Technical and Vocational Education Ghislain Thierry Maguessa Ebomé and financed by the World Bank through the Accelerating Institutional Governance and Reforms for Sustainable Service Delivery Programme (PAGIR), the…

Strategic signature unites state and academia The auditorium of IMB Business School in Brazzaville fell momentarily silent on 30 October before erupting into applause as Dr Luc Daniel Adamo Mateta, High-Commissioner for Civic Instruction and Moral Education, and Sylvain Yangangwa Syoge, President-Director-General of IMB, placed their signatures on a protocol of agreement. The document, negotiated under the auspices of the Ministry of Higher Education and endorsed by the Prime Minister’s office, creates an institutional bridge charged with conveying civic duty, ethical leadership and a renewed sense of patriotism to the future managerial elite of the Republic of the Congo (official…

Strategic Pact for Civic-Minded Graduates On 30 October in Brazzaville the High Commission for Civic Instruction and Moral Education and the Institute of Management of Brazzaville Business School (IMB) formalised a co-operation agreement designed to place civic responsibility at the heart of tertiary learning. By signing the protocol, the two institutions commit themselves to shaping what they describe as “a patriot, disciplined and morally strong citizen”, an objective that resonates with the Republic of Congo’s ambition to consolidate social cohesion and sustainable development. Dr Luc Daniel Adamo Mateta, High Commissioner for Civic Instruction, hailed the initiative as a timely response…

A contest at the crossroads of literature and civic education Launched on 28 October in Brazzaville by the civil-society organisation Oxygène, the nationwide competition “Dis non avec tes mots” proposes an unusual alliance between creative writing and the fight against gender-based violence. Scheduled from 25 November to 10 December, the initiative targets girls enrolled from primary to lower secondary schools throughout the Republic of Congo. Participants are invited to submit, through a dedicated Facebook account, original texts—poems, slams or free compositions—describing abuses they have witnessed or endured, be they physical, verbal, sexual or psychological. Harnessing the transformative power of language…

Brazzaville ceremony cements MTN’s digital pledge The midday light over Brazzaville’s downtown campus briefly dimmed beneath a cascade of yellow umbrellas, the signature colour of MTN Congo. Inside the auditorium, thirty fresh graduates of the MTN Skills Academy quietly balanced boxes containing brand-new laptops on their knees. Vanessa Tsouma, Executive Director of the MTN Foundation, took the podium and declared that the hand-over aimed “to reward the determination and self-sacrifice shown throughout the training programme”. Her phrasing was deliberate: the company wants the public to see the event not as a donation, but as recognition of merit wielded in service…

Community Commitment Tested on Pool’s RN1 Corridor The thick red laterite that clings stubbornly to shoes along the Route Nationale n°1 tells a story of distance. For many families settled between Brazzaville and Kinkala, it is the distance to a tap of drinkable water, to an accessible classroom, and sometimes to the reassuring certainty that children will reach school unscathed. On 15 October, La Congolaise des Routes (LCR) attempted to shorten that distance. A delegation led by deputy managing director Jacques Almaless criss-crossed Boulankio and Ngatoko, two primary schools set like islands in the Pool department, to launch a package…

Corporate social responsibility along RN1 In a discreet yet decisive move, La Congolaise des Routes (LCR) has chosen the classroom as the latest extension of its concession over the nation’s principal trunk road, the Route nationale nº1. On 15 October a delegation led by Deputy Director-General Jacques Almaless travelled deep into Pool Department to present two neighbouring communities—Boulankio and Ngatoko—with an agenda that merges infrastructure economics and social purpose. By financing a borehole, repairing a feeder road and distributing school kits, the company demonstrates how corporate social responsibility can be tethered to a strategic transport artery without drifting into public-relations…

Civic Generosity Illuminates Brazzaville Classrooms A hum of eager voices filled a modest school courtyard in Brazzaville on 11 October as the Association Jhony-Chancel pour les Albinos (AJCA) joined forces with the organisation Redonner le sourire. Together they handed over notebooks, pens and carefully selected bottles of high-protection sunscreen to dozens of pupils living with albinism. The scene, discreet yet emblematic, demonstrates a form of civic generosity that is quietly reshaping the social landscape of the Republic of Congo. Invited guests included representatives of partner institutions, testimony to a solidarity that extends well beyond the two NGOs. Addressing the gathering,…

Scientific momentum at the University Denis Sassou Nguesso In the modern amphitheatre overlooking the Congo River at Kintélé, Professor Arnaud Wilfrid Etou Ossibi formally opened the second edition of the Faculty of Applied Sciences’ Scientific Activities Week on 6 October. The dean described the gathering as “a genuine moment of scientific awakening”, designed to complement academic instruction with hands-on exposure to research and technology. By adopting the theme “Applied research at the Faculty of Applied Sciences: sustainable solutions for enterprises and target populations”, the organisers framed the week as a bridge between theory and the urgent needs of Congolese society.…

A measured warning from the inter-union college The inter-union college of Marien Ngouabi University in Brazzaville deposited on 3 October a meticulously phrased, four-day strike notice that it presents as a “last resort” before more disruptive actions. Behind the communiqué stand the Syndicat du personnel non-enseignant du supérieur (SYPENES), the Syndicat national de l’université (SYNALU) and the Syndicat des enseignants du supérieur (SYNESUP), three representative bodies whose convergent positions confer unusual cohesion on a traditionally fragmented social landscape. Their stated objective is not confrontation but a “return to the spirit of the commitments” that, according to them, framed earlier talks…