Author: Congo Times

A fiscal roadmap anchored in stability Presenting the 2026-2028 medium-term financial framework to both chambers of Parliament, Finance and Budget Minister Christian Yoka insisted that Brazzaville is “maintaining the course of stability” even as external headwinds persist. The government expects to generate primary surpluses each year of the triennium, resources that will be channelled first to amortise external debt and settle domestic arrears. The ministry’s macro-fiscal scenario assumes average real growth of 3.8 %, inflation contained below the 3 % CEMAC convergence ceiling and a gradual narrowing of the overall deficit to 1 % of GDP by 2028. Targeted debt…

A fraternal message traversing the nation Few missives manage to combine familial warmth and civic gravity as deftly as the “Lettre de Yakamambu” currently passing from hand to hand throughout Congo-Brazzaville. Penned in an intimate tone—”My dearest friend Mbulunkwé, mboté!”—and signed simply “Diag-Lemba”, the text brings into conversation not only two correspondents but an entire community of compatriots, explicitly naming the mutual acquaintances Itoua, Mboungou and Tati. What might have remained a private exchange is elevated into a collective meditation on nationhood, as the author shares a poem conceived as an “ode for peace” and entrusts its diffusion to the…

Cypriot Super Cup: A Penalty-Drama That Teaches Resilience The season in Cyprus opened with a contest that rarely deceives neutrals: a Super Cup inevitable collision between the league champions, Pafos FC, and the Cup holders, AEK Larnaka. The ninety minutes closed on a tight 1-1 draw, and the final verdict emerged only after a relentless series of penalties, 5-4 in favour of Larnaka. For Pafos, Congolese striker Mons Bassouamina remained an unused substitute, while versatile midfielder Jérémie Gnali started and fought until the 77th minute before giving way as fatigue seeped through humid Limassol air. Although neither expatriate forced the…

Owando Forum Places Agriculture Centre Stage In the balmy river town of Owando, three hundred kilometres north of Brazzaville, the sixth edition of the Forum Horizon Initiative and Creativity unfolded from 28 to 30 October under the patronage of the local deputy, Joël Abel Owassa Yaucka. Conceived as a think-tank for home-grown innovation, the gathering convened legislators, senior civil servants and entrepreneurs around a shared ambition: translating the demographic energy of the Republic of Congo into productive, climate-smart agribusiness. The opening day rapidly set the tone. Before an audience that included the deputy for Oyo’s second constituency Serges Ikiemi, 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…

Congolese Flag Soars Over Seoul October’s chilly evening air in Seoul vibrated with applause as the tricolour of the Republic of Congo rose above the podium of the International Hapkido Open. At its base stood Edmond Narcisse Gandsié Dzia, freshly crowned champion in the senior-and-veteran +83 kg division after a flawless series of victories over fifteen opponents representing Asia, Europe and the Americas. The organising committee, relaying the final standings, confirmed the master’s supremacy and praised “a performance of rare tactical intelligence” (World Hapkido Federation communiqué, 27 Oct.). A Master’s Path Forged in Brazzaville Dojangs The 43-year-old athlete’s journey began…

Ground-Level Scrutiny of a Crucial Civic Exercise On 28 and 29 October, just hours before the statutory deadline, the General Commissioner of the Follow-up Committee for the Convention on Peace and Reconstruction, Marius Mouambenga, criss-crossed Brazzaville’s most densely populated arrondissements to observe the final strokes of the nationwide voter roll revision. As head of the Observatoire national des élections, the commissioner consciously chose field immersion over written briefings, arriving unannounced in Makélékélé, Bacongo, Talangaï and Ouenzé to test the robustness of procedures and the resilience of personnel engaged in the operation. His brief, he explained to journalists on site, was…

Ignié option gains momentum among stakeholders The Congolese football season of 2025-2026, once threatened with outright cancellation, may yet find refuge some forty kilometres north-west of Brazzaville. At a consultative meeting on 29 October, Federation president Jean Guy Blaise Mayolas revealed that the National Technical Centre in Ignié has emerged as “the only realistic lifeline” capable of hosting both Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 matches. Club presidents, secretaries-general and federation officials agreed in principle to concentrate the entire calendar on the twin pitches of the complex, pending final technical audits. The sense of urgency was palpable. Two consecutive blank seasons…