Author: Congo Times

Mediated truce in the education sector The unexpected announcement issued on 17 October by Herbin Bakétiba, spokesperson for the National Education Union Platform (PSEN), reverberated across faculty rooms from Pointe-Noire to Ouesso. Barely a week after union leaders had renewed a strike notice, they decided to “concede the suspension” of the action, trusting the personal involvement of the Mediator of the Republic, Valère Gabriel Eteka Yemet, to transmit their grievances to the executive. Two rounds of talks held on 14 and 17 October at the Mediator’s offices provided, according to participants, a “frank and fruitful” atmosphere conducive to compromise. Union…

Diplomatic Courtesies and Strategic Interests The marble-lined corridors of Hong Kong’s Convention Centre have been hosting an intense ballet of diplomats since 15 October, date chosen for the first statutory session of the International Organisation for Mediation (IOMed). Among the early arrivals, Ambassador Guy Nestor Itoua, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Francophonie and Congolese Abroad, quickly became a sought-after interlocutor. His meeting with Teresa Cheng, former justice secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and sole candidate declared for the post of IOMed secretary-general, took place behind closed doors but its substance rapidly filtered through the delegates’…

Congo assumes leadership of Assac-Ac A measured yet unmistakable sense of momentum pervaded the headquarters of the Agency for the Supervision of Aviation Safety in Central Africa on 17 October, as Brazzaville hosted the seventh ministerial session of the organisation. During the ceremony, the Congolese Minister of Transport, Civil Aviation and Merchant Marine, Ingrid Olga Ghislaine Ebouka-Babackas, formally accepted the gavel from her Central African counterpart Herbert Gotran Ndjono-Ahaba. By doing so, Congo not only assumed the rotating chair of the committee of ministers but also accepted what the incoming president called a collective “duty to protect lives and foster…

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…

A budget session framed by remembrance The marble halls of Brazzaville’s Palais du Parlement ordinarily echo with the energetic exchanges that accompany any budget deliberation. On 15 January 2025, however, the opening gavel of the tenth ordinary session of the fifteenth legislature was met first by a hush. Speaker Isidore Mvouba invited deputies to suspend political rivalry and stand in meditation, transforming the chamber into a space of collective remembrance for two colleagues whose names are woven into the parliamentary fabric. Mouyabi: from revolutionary years to elder statesman André Georges Mouyabi, who presided over the Assembly between 1966 and 1968…

Brazzaville poised for a continental crescendo The Congolese capital will devote three December days to the Rencontre des jeunes entrepreneurs d’Afrique, a first-of-its-kind forum whose stated ambition is to place “entrepreneurship at the heart of African youth”. Organisers have chosen 18-20 December 2025 in order to ride the end-of-year momentum when investors revisit portfolio strategies and diaspora professionals return home for the festive season. By positioning itself at that crossroads, Brazzaville signals both confidence in its own ecosystem and openness to the wider continent. A rallying point for youth-led innovation In a macro-economic context still coloured by post-pandemic adjustments and…

A Senate Standing Ovation for Security Continuity In a packed hemicycle overlooking the banks of the Congo River, Senate President Pierre Ngolo opened the first budgetary session of the 2025-2026 cycle by saluting what he termed “the unwavering vigilance of the defence and security forces” against the surge of violent youth gangs colloquially dubbed “bébés noirs” or kulunas. The upper chamber, he emphasised, is convinced that the recent law-enforcement operations—joint patrols, targeted arrests and neighbourhood mediation—have restored “a climate of civic tranquillity that our cities impatiently awaited” (Agence Congolaise d’Information, 16 Oct.). Yet, far from declaring victory, Mr Ngolo urged…

Ambitious Ten-Year Horizon for Urban Sanitation Announced on 15 October 2025, the Republic of Congo’s first integrated sanitation master plan sets a clear target: to curb the incidence of diseases linked to poor hygiene in Brazzaville and other urban centres by 2031, with further consolidation through 2035 (government briefing, 15 October 2025). The programme emanates from a collaborative drafting process involving municipal councillors, arrondissement leaders and private-sector waste operators, who were invited to map recurrent sanitation bottlenecks and propose corrective measures. By translating these proposals into a national policy instrument, the cabinet signals a willingness to align local knowledge with…

High stakes as budget season opens in Brazzaville The marble-lined chamber of the Congolese National Assembly filled early on 15 October, an atmosphere of hushed expectancy accompanying the gavel strike that launched the Tenth Ordinary Budget Session. From the rostrum, Speaker Isidore Mvouba wasted no time in framing the deputies’ mandate: to deliver a finance law that genuinely reflects “the most legitimate expectations of the Congolese people.” His choice of words was measured yet firm, echoing a national mood shaped by post-pandemic constraints, global commodity headwinds and the persistent quest for inclusive growth. Calling for rigour, discipline and availability, the…