Author: Arsene Mbala

Regional Dialogue in Abidjan On 31 July, the calm gardens of President Alassane Ouattara’s private residence in Abidjan hosted a conversation that—despite its restrained protocol—echoed far beyond Côte d’Ivoire’s lagoon shores. Prime Minister Anatole Collinet Makosso, carrying a personal message from President Denis Sassou Nguesso, opened the exchange with warm words on the historic fraternity linking the two republics; in return, the Ivorian head of state emphasised continuity in a relationship that is as political as it is cultural, dating back to Félix Houphouët-Boigny’s early overtures to Brazzaville in the 1960s (Ivorian Presidency communiqué). Abidjan–Brazzaville Axis of Pragmatic Cooperation Bilateral…

African Coalition Rallies in Yamoussoukro The echo of traditional drums in Yamoussoukro on 29 July signalled more than cultural celebration; it marked the formal launch of an international citizens’ mobilisation steered by the Confederation of African UNESCO Clubs and Associations (CACU) in support of Firmin Édouard Matoko, the Republic of Congo’s candidate for the organisation’s top job. Beneath the ceremony’s pageantry lay a calculated diplomatic move aimed at consolidating Africa’s forty-eight votes inside the UNESCO Executive Board before the October ballot (Agence ivoirienne de presse, 29 July 2025). CACU president Allogmom Gabin framed the initiative as a continental responsibility rather…

A Trophy that Signals Strategic Alignment When Africa Global Logistics (AGL) unveiled its annual CSR 2025 trophy in Paris earlier this year, the accolade travelled swiftly to Pointe-Noire. The Congolese subsidiary emerged first among more than sixty francophone and anglophone entities assessed by the group’s Quality, Health, Safety and Environment division. In the words of AGL’s global QHSE & CSR director Olivier Restoueix, the award reflects “an identity anchored in responsible enterprise”. His statement is more than corporate rhetoric: it mirrors the Congolese authorities’ pledge, reiterated in the National Development Plan 2022-2026, to harness private-sector capital for sustainable transformation. By…

Setting the stage at Marien-Ngouabi University On 30 July the conference hall of Marien-Ngouabi University’s rectorate filled with a quiet, studious tension. Twenty young women—from final-year pupils to civil servants—took their seats for the written segment of the second Miss Mayele contest, an initiative crafted by Congolese scholar Sylvia Djouob, now a professor of French literature in Paris. The one-hour examination, composed entirely of multiple-choice grammar questions, had a remit far broader than syntactic precision: it sought to anchor intellectual self-confidence in a society where, historically, public space has leaned masculine. Miss Mayele emerged in 2022 as a cultural response…

Entrepreneurship as Social Cohesion At the heart of Brazzaville’s scientific city, forty Congolese citizens living with disabilities have embarked on a rigorous enterprise-management course led by the Italian NGO Comunità Sviluppo e Promozione and its local partner, the Groupement des Intellectuels et Ouvriers Handicapés du Congo. The launch, held on 24 July, was less a ceremonial ribbon-cutting than a strategic signal: economic resilience and social cohesion can advance in tandem when marginalised populations are granted the tools of self-reliance. The programme operates under the wider project “An Inclusive Approach to Disability”, co-financed by the European Union and the Episcopal Conference…

Brazzaville Ceremony Elevates Intellectual Prestige Under the gilded ceilings of the Palais du Peuple, a venue historically reserved for major diplomatic overtures, President Denis Sassou Nguesso affixed the violet sash and star of the Grand-Croix to Professor Théophile Obenga. The 25 July investiture, recorded by the Agence Congolaise d’Information and relayed by regional broadcasters, reflected a carefully choreographed republican rite: military fanfare, academic robes and a presidential address that wove national unity with intellectual pursuit. By choosing a living scholar—rather than a statesman or posthumous candidate—the Head of State signalled a deliberate recalibration of the national order of merit. The…

Ceremony in Kintélé marks academic milestone The glass-walled amphitheatre of Kintélé vibrated with a mix of orchestral hymns and ululations as the University Denis Sassou Nguesso, barely three years after its inauguration, released its third cohort into the national talent pool. In the presence of the Prime Minister Anatole Collinet Makosso and senior cabinet members, 405 graduates—294 at licence level and 111 at master level—received parchment embossed with the state seal, an image that quietly underscored the Republic of Congo’s intention to anchor its economic modernisation in academic credentials (ACI, 26 July 2024). Breakdown of licencés and masters Behind the…

A Turning Tide in Inclusive Skills Training The low hum of computers in a modest classroom of southern Brazzaville tells a story rarely heard beyond the Congo River. Since 2022 the Centre de formation des jeunes vivant avec handicap, widely known as Cenfor-Jh, has enrolled cohorts of deaf students in accelerated digital courses designed to ease their transition into the city’s formal labour market. According to founder Edgar Bavoumina, the project sprang from the winning proposal “Numérique pour tous”, selected by the Youth Challenge jointly organised by UNICEF, UNDP and the Congolese government (UNICEF, 2023). What might appear a peripheral…

A Timely Corporate Gesture With calibrated discretion yet unmistakable symbolism, Hemla E&P Congo has awarded a 160 million FCFA grant to Denis Sassou Nguesso University, an institution whose very name embodies Congo-Brazzaville’s contemporary state project. The endowment, publicly confirmed by university president Professor Ange Antoine Abena, will finance advanced digital microscopes for the Faculty of Applied Sciences and precision testing equipment for the Institute of Geographic, Environmental and Planning Sciences. In the words of Professor Abena, the new instrumentation will “totally transform” pedagogical delivery, an assertion corroborated by preliminary syllabi revisions already circulating within faculty committees. Strategic Significance for Higher…

A Cheque Beyond Ceremony in Kintélé The quiet suburb of Kintélé momentarily resembled a diplomatic stage on 17 July 2025 as Hemla E&P Congo handed over a cheque of 160 683 674 francs CFA to the University Denis Sassou Nguesso. While the amount is modest when juxtaposed with the country’s annual hydrocarbon receipts, the symbolism proved far weightier. In the presence of two cabinet ministers and senior university figures, the energy firm positioned itself as a committed stakeholder in the Republic of Congo’s knowledge economy. Observers noted that the timing dovetails with the government’s Rolling Action Plan on Higher Education,…