Author: Congo Times

Telecom Ingenuity Amid Congo’s Electrification Drive Late afternoon sunlight settles on the Chamoukoualé roundabout in Mossendjo, a forestry crossroads some 750 kilometres southwest of Brazzaville. Two bright-yellow pillars, humming softly to the cadence of a diesel generator, dominate the small plaza. Operated by the mobile-network operator MTN Congo, the kiosks deliver uninterrupted electricity to as many as forty-five handsets at any given moment, a modest yet symbolically potent response to the town’s prolonged grid outage. According to industry executives, the initiative forms part of MTN’s nationwide “Always On” programme, designed to stabilise connectivity in regions where commercial activity is constrained…

Setting the diplomatic stage When Jean-Claude Gakosso accepted the foreign affairs portfolio in 2015, Brazzaville stood at a historical crossroads: oil prices were tumbling, the Sahelian security arc was deteriorating and multilateralism was beginning to fray. A decade later, Congo-Brazzaville marks sixty-five years of independence with no bilateral quarrel on its docket, a statistic the minister cites with quiet pride. Independent monitoring by regional think tanks such as the Institute for Security Studies corroborates that Brazzaville has avoided sanction regimes or reciprocal expulsions during that span, a rarity in Central Africa. The government’s strategy has consisted of calibrated openness—welcoming external…

A Swift Acceleration of Congo’s Digital Agenda The Republic of Congo has articulated, through its National Development Plan 2022-2026, an ambition to raise the share of the digital sector to 10 % of GDP. MTN Skill Academy, launched in February 2025, has rapidly become a flagship instrument of this vision, already certifying 7,000 participants out of a target cohort of 10,000 before year-end 2025. According to data shared by the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Digital Economy, the country’s internet penetration expanded from 26 % in 2018 to 43 % in 2024 (ITU 2023). The Academy therefore enters a market…

Supreme Court Seals a Protracted Case By dismissing the final appeal lodged by Ms Gisèle Ngoma, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Congo has conferred definitive force on the 2 December 2024 judgment that recognised the Republic of Bulgaria as sole owner of the 982-square-metre parcel in Brazzaville’s La Poste district. In a brief but meticulously reasoned opinion, the highest bench stated that the lower courts had “correctly applied domestic statutes and international conventions governing diplomatic property”, thereby eliminating any remaining doubt as to competence or due-process compliance. Diplomatic observers in Brazzaville note that the case, though modest in…

Congolese Diaspora Talent Shines in Ligue 1 Opening Round The curtain-raiser of the 2024-2025 French Ligue 1 season yielded an unexpected narrative arc: a cohort of teenagers and early-twenty prospects of Congolese heritage, many of them French-born, left a discernible imprint on elite European football. Foremost among them was seventeen-year-old central defender Tylel Tati. Thrust into Nantes’ starting eleven against Paris Saint-Germain, the Parisian-born son of Congolese community leader Sambou “Bijou” Tati displayed a composure that belied his age. French daily L’Equipe underlined his “surgical timing in one-on-one duels”, while regional outlet Presse-Océan saluted “a maturity rare at this level”.…

A strategic showcase under presidential impetus When the doors of the International Wood, Machine and Craft Fair of Brazzaville (SAMEB) opened on 11 August, the event was not simply adding colour to the cultural calendar; it was articulating a deliberate economic posture. Now in its fourth iteration, SAMEB has been endorsed by President Denis Sassou Nguesso as a flagship for the Republic of Congo’s agenda to dilute hydrocarbon dependency through value-added forestry and artisanat. The fair’s declared targets—job creation, industrial upgrading and foreign direct investment—mirror the diversification objectives outlined in the National Development Plan 2022-2026 (Government of Congo 2022). Wood…

Strategic Importance of Cement to Congo’s Diversification In Congo-Brazzaville the cement sector has long been considered a critical lever for economic diversification, a priority enshrined in the 2022-2026 National Development Plan. As Minister of Industrial Development Antoine Thomas Nicéphore Fylla Saint-Eudes reminded delegates gathered in Brazzaville, “cement is the indispensable sub-strate of every road, bridge and public building; strengthening its value chain therefore strengthens the sovereignty of our productive base.” The country’s installed capacity—estimated at 3.2 million tonnes per year according to the African Development Bank—already exceeds domestic demand, offering immediate room for export expansion. Yet fragmentation, logistical bottlenecks and…

Sovereign Continuity and Constitutional Timelines With scarcely nine months separating Brazzaville from the March 2026 presidential contest, the National Assembly has become a focal arena of anticipation. Speaker Isidore Mvouba, in his closing address to the ninth ordinary session on 13 August 2025, praised President Denis Sassou-Nguesso as “the man of the hour”, arguing that institutional continuity remains the republic’s most reliable moat against regional turbulence. Although the head of state has not yet formalised his candidacy, the political elite of the Congolese Labour Party, echoed by several minor allies, appears to view a new mandate as both legitimate and…

A Journalist Steps Onto the Political Stage When Alexis Bongo faced the cameras of DRTV each week to moderate the current-affairs programme “Homéosthasie”, his questions helped shape public debate. On 16 August the seasoned broadcaster reversed the logic of the studio, stepping before reporters at Brazzaville’s Zola Cultural Centre to confirm that he will seek the presidency in March 2026. At fifty-six, Bongo frames his entrance less as a personal odyssey than as part of what he calls “Le Congo nouveau”, an appeal to national renewal couched in pan-African vocabulary. His declaration reprises an ambition first voiced in 2016 but…

Anniversary Diplomacy and Symbolic Timing August 15, 2020 marked six-and-a-half decades since the Republic of the Congo proclaimed sovereignty from France, and the date furnished an opportunity for Washington to recalibrate its message to Brazzaville. In a presidential letter released through the Congolese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and confirmed by U.S. officials in the region (U.S. Embassy Brazzaville, 2020), Donald J. Trump conveyed “warm greetings to the Government and the people of the Republic of the Congo” and praised the country’s “enduring pursuit of peace and prosperity.” Although such congratulatory notes are routine within diplomatic protocol, their wording—often vetted by…