Author: Congo Times

Government backs science-based learning for resilience In a resolutely forward-looking meeting convened on 26 November in Brazzaville, senior officials, academics, development partners and climate specialists examined the final study leading to a national teaching module on climate change adaptation and sustainable water resources management. The initiative, driven by the Congolese government with technical and financial support from the Agence française de développement, seeks to endow universities and training centres with material tailored to domestic realities, thereby embedding climate literacy at the heart of higher education. By foregrounding scientific evidence and policy priorities, the project dovetails with the authorities’ broader ambition…

A rating that reframes the sub-regional financial narrative When the Board of Directors of the Development Bank of Central African States (BDEAC) convened in hybrid format on 26 November in Brazzaville, the atmosphere was neither euphoric nor complacent. Instead, it carried the quiet confidence that often follows a decisive external endorsement. Moody’s Investors Service, in its inaugural assessment, assigned the multilateral lender a Ba3 rating with a stable outlook, the highest credit opinion currently enjoyed by any sovereign or institution in the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa. President Dieudonné Evou Mekou called the decision “a significant moment that…

Strategic UN Engagement Gains Momentum in Brazzaville The discreet arrival in Brazzaville of André Kangni Afanou, Africa Coordinator for the Geneva-based Center for Civil and Political Rights, signals a pivotal stage in the Republic of Congo’s dialogue with the United Nations Human Rights Committee. After a postponement linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, the country is preparing the periodic report required under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Speaking on 25 November, Mr Afanou confirmed that his organisation “stands ready to accompany the Congolese authorities and society at large in producing a document that reflects both achievements and remaining…

A Strategic Instrument for Diversified Growth Public procurement in the Republic of Congo has long been a barometer of the State’s capacity to steer development. With contracts representing an estimated ten per cent of national GDP, the rules that govern the award of tenders can either lubricate or stifle economic diversification. On 6 November 2025, a high-level seminar at the Kintélé International Conference Centre signalled the determination of Brazzaville to translate recent legislative amendments into concrete opportunities for local businesses while maintaining strict probity standards. The event was financed by the World Bank through the Accelerating Governance and Institutional Reforms…

A five-year experiment closes on a high note The Programme d’Appui à la Stratégie Sectorielle de l’Éducation, better known by its French acronym PASSÉ, slipped quietly across the finish line in November 2025. Launched jointly by the Government of the Republic of Congo and UNESCO with financing from the Global Partnership for Education, the five-year envelope set out to make schools more equitable, more effective and more accountable. The final evaluation, presented in Brazzaville in early December, suggests that the targets were not only met but, in several instances, exceeded. Equity gains: bricks, water and daily meals PASSÉ’s first pillar…

A community-driven answer to youth unemployment In Pointe-Noire’s bustling arrondissement 5, Mongo Mpoukou, anticipation is building ahead of the 15 January 2026 debut of a programme conceived to tackle one of the Republic of Congo’s most persistent socioeconomic challenges: youth unemployment. Spearheaded by the Pro Social Inter États Foundation (FPSI), under the stewardship of its resident representative Orcel Bayonga-Mbondza, the initiative pledges to accompany 4,000 young men and women through a structured pathway leading to gainful employment or self-employment by 2031 (FPSI). The scheme forms part of a deliberate community-centric strategy. Rather than imposing a top-down model, FPSI’s teams have…

Brazzaville Sets the Stage for Renewed US Capital The marble corridors of the Hydrocarbons Ministry in downtown Brazzaville were unusually animated on 25 November as Minister Bruno Jean Richard Itoua welcomed Amanda Jacobsen, chargé d’Affaires ad interim of the United States embassy. The encounter, described by both parties as productive, placed the reinforcement of bilateral energy cooperation at the heart of their agenda. Jacobsen left little room for ambiguity, declaring Washington’s readiness to scale up investments across the Congolese oil and gas value chain. Her statement echoes the Congolese authorities’ broader ambition to position the country as a reliable, competitive…

A congress defined by generational renewal Brazzaville’s Palais des Congrès pulsed with a rare aura of consensus on 22 November as the Pan-African Union for Social Democracy (UPADS) concluded its second ordinary congress. Delegates from all departments voted for 34-year-old parliamentarian Jeremy Lissouba to become secretary-general, the pivotal executive post entrusted with day-to-day coordination of the centre-left formation founded three decades ago by the late President Pascal Lissouba. The decision, announced from the rostrum by outgoing interim leaders, was greeted by long applause, confirming a strategic wager on youth intended to reboot the party’s operational culture without rupturing its historical…

Strategic electricity link reaches Ewo For the first time since the creation of the département of Cuvette-Ouest in 1999, households and small businesses in its capital, Ewo, can count on a stable supply of grid electricity. President Denis Sassou Nguesso formally energised the 30/110 kV distribution substation on 25 November, a moment the Head of State described as “a tangible dividend of our accelerated municipalisation programme” (Presidency communiqué, 25 Nov 2025). The substation is connected to the national backbone running northwards from Brazzaville through Boundji, eliminating reliance on costly diesel generators and sporadic solar kits. Accelerated municipalisation bears fruit Launched…

A muted ‘Blue November’ in Brazzaville For the second consecutive year the wide boulevards of Brazzaville enter November without the familiar azure ribbons or radio jingles that, elsewhere, signal the start of “Blue November”, the international month dedicated to men’s health and prostate-cancer prevention. Yet epidemiologists from the International Agency for Research on Cancer rank prostate malignancies among the three most frequent tumours affecting Congolese men. In the capital, however, the absence of billboards, street stands or community workshops suggests that the message still struggles to reach the public. Voices from the streets reveal knowledge gaps In the busy Ouenzé…