Author: Congo Times

Equatorial Coordinates and Regional Interfaces Straddling the equator on Africa’s western flank, the Republic of the Congo commands an area of almost 342,000 km², sharing land frontiers with Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Angolan enclave of Cabinda. Its 160-kilometre Atlantic façade, modest in length yet vital in consequence, anchors the nation to global maritime trade routes and underpins its diplomatic outreach within the Gulf of Guinea coastal architecture (African Development Bank 2023). The capital, Brazzaville, perched on the right bank of the Congo River and facing Kinshasa across Malebo Pool, forms…

Brazzaville’s Melodic Envoys The Republic of Congo has long relied on musical ambassadors to project an image of vibrancy that transcends political headlines. Few carry that mantle with the poise of Fanie Fayar, whose forthcoming appearance from 25 to 27 July at the Karibu Africa Festival in France offers Brazzaville an opportunity to reaffirm its cultural credentials on a European stage. Government officials familiar with the itinerary view her set as part of a broader diplomatic effort to promote national heritage through the arts, a strategy encouraged by the Ministry of Culture and the Congolese embassy in Paris. The Strategic…

A strategic crossroads in the Congo Basin On 30 July Brazzaville will once again host the Mbongui de la Femme Africaine, a forum that has matured into a regional observatory of gender-smart policy design. The choice of the Congolese capital is anything but incidental: situated at the political crossroads of Central Africa, Brazzaville offers diplomatic visibility while echoing President Denis Sassou Nguesso’s stated commitment to the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Government advisers privately concede that the initiative dovetails with the national Development Plan 2022-2026, which identifies women’s economic empowerment as an accelerator of…

An African Voice in Global Management Debate At a juncture where African financial centres seek greater intellectual autonomy, the July release of “Problematiques and Memories of Management” by Cédric Jovial Ondaye-Ebauh offers more than regional colour. The 112-page essay, issued by the Paris-based house Jets d’Encre, positions Brazzaville as a locus of high-level reflection on corporate governance, resonating with contemporaneous African Development Bank calls for strengthened managerial capacity across the continent (African Development Bank, 2023). Legacy Theories under Contemporary Scrutiny Ondaye-Ebauh proceeds with deliberate respect for the canonical architecture erected by Henri Fayol, Peter Drucker and Frederick Herzberg, yet he…

African book diplomacy on the Ébrié Lagoon Abidjan’s Plateau district, normally animated by the cadence of commercial exchanges, has momentarily shifted its tempo to a quieter yet persuasive register, that of letters and the arts. The eighth Meeting International du Livre et des Arts Associés—better known by its mellifluous acronym MILA—has unfurled its banners along the Ébrié Lagoon, projecting Côte d’Ivoire’s ambition to serve as a regional agora for intellectual cross-fertilisation. According to organisers from the association Qoiquo, more than six thousand visitors, publishers and creators are expected during the three-day conclave, a figure that confirms the festival’s elevation into…

A Concert Framed as Cultural Diplomacy When the spotlight sweeps across Espace Exo-Bus on 26 July, the evening will resonate far beyond the perimeter of Brazzaville’s riverfront boulevard. In the eyes of many diplomats stationed in the Congo, the debut of Chikito Makinu—hailed domestically as “Le Prince Golois”—is regarded as yet another illustration of the government’s long-standing reliance on cultural diplomacy to project stability and refinement. Since President Denis Sassou Nguesso’s 2022 National Culture Strategy emphasised rumba as a ‘vector of unity’ (Ministry of Culture communiqué, 2023), each high-profile performance has doubled as a reminder that the Republic of Congo…

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 measured yet firm ruling from Likouala bench The Tribunal de Grande Instance of Impfondo, sitting less than forty kilometres from the winding bends of the Oubangui River, delivered on 26 June a judgment that resonated well beyond the dense canopy of the Likouala rainforest. By imposing three years’ imprisonment on Jodel Mouandola and two years each on Arel Ebouzi and Parfait Mbekele, the bench demonstrated that the 2008 Wildlife and Protected Areas Act is no paper tiger. The additional monetary penalties—one million CFA francs in fines and three million in civil damages—complete a package intended, in the words of…

Brazzaville’s Unexpected Centrality When Ambassador Enrico Nunziata emerged from the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and the Digital Economy on 22 July, the message was unambiguous: Rome sees Brazzaville not as a peripheral outpost but as a laboratory for African entrepreneurial resurgence. His joint statement with Minister Léon Juste Ibombo reaffirmed Congo-Brazzaville’s status as pilot country for the start-up component of Italy’s Mattei Plan for Africa, a designation first codified in a bilateral memorandum signed in Rome on 19 June (Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2024). The symbolism is notable; the Republic of the Congo, more often associated with hydrocarbons and…

Cabinet endorsement underscores strategic priority Chaired by President Denis Sassou Nguesso, the recent Council of Ministers endorsed a decree that thoroughly revises the rules governing environmental and social impact assessments. Invited to present the text, Minister of Environment, Sustainable Development and the Congo Basin Arlette Soudan-Nonault described the instrument as “a decisive lever for responsible growth”. Her characterisation reflects the government’s wider positioning: ecological diligence is no longer perceived as a constraint but as a prerequisite for the country’s economic diversification agenda, particularly in agriculture, mining and infrastructure. Connecting the 2023 sustainability law with global standards The decree operationalises Law…