Author: Congo Times

A distinguished voice emerges in Congolese education research The auditorium of Marien-Ngouabi University in Brazzaville fell into an attentive silence on 12 September as Reine Mervine Gankama defended her master’s thesis in quantitative economics. Entitled “The Weight of Socio-demographic and Extra-school Factors on School Dropout in Congo,” the 150-page study earned the highest honours—16/20 with unanimous congratulations—underscoring both its scientific depth and its social relevance. Presiding over the panel, lecturer Samba Bruno praised a “methodologically impeccable and socially resonant contribution,” while the two other jurors, Mavoungou Soula Ulrich and supervisor M’Piayi Auguste, echoed the sentiment. In a national context where…

UNESCO leadership showdown grips two hemispheres Few elections at a UN agency have so vividly dramatised the global rebalancing of influence as the campaign for UNESCO’s next Director-General. On one side stands Firmin Edouard Matoko, a Congolese national who has spent thirty-five years within the organisation; on the other, Egypt’s Khaled El-Enany, archaeologist and former minister of antiquities. What might appear as a simple bureaucratic succession has become, in the words of Le Continent Magazine, “an opposition of substance between reformist universalism and organised regional diplomacy”. Chronology of a contested nomination Contrary to insinuations that Brazzaville hesitated, the Congolese dossier…

Brazzaville Workshop Signals a Data-Driven Turn In a modest conference room overlooking the Congo River, a cohort of thirty officials from the Directorate-General for Public Procurement Control (DGCMP) gathered between 12 and 14 September 2025 to scrutinise a thick technical report. The document distils twelve months of nationwide data collection on public contracts, an exercise carried out under the Accelerating Institutional Governance and Reforms Programme, better known by its French acronym PAGIR. Opening the session, DGCMP Director-General Joel Ikama Ngatse framed the moment in unequivocal terms. “Reliable figures are the bedrock of credible governance,” he affirmed, insisting that the draft…

Madingou turns into Congo’s handball capital For ten animated days this September, the normally tranquil streets of Madingou resonate with whistles, chants and the dull thud of resin-coated balls. The Departmental capital of Bouenza, counting scarcely forty-four thousand residents, has welcomed twenty-three senior teams—fifteen men’s and eight women’s formations—from Brazzaville, Pointe-Noire, Pool and the host department to compete in the inaugural “I Love Bouenza in the Literal Sense” tournament. The opening match, held on 8 September 2025 at the city’s freshly refurbished omnisport stadium, was launched by the Prefect, Colonel-Major Marcel Nganongo, under the gaze of Mayor Fortuné Pouéla and…

High-Level Mission Courts Latin America The Republic of Congo has entered a decisive phase in its campaign to steer Firmin Édouard Matoko toward the helm of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation. After a constructive stop in Santiago, Minister of State Pierre Mabiala—who also oversees Land Affairs and relations with Parliament—led a delegation to Asunción, the Paraguayan capital, on 10 September. By deploying a ministerial envoy rather than a purely diplomatic team, Brazzaville signalled that the race for UNESCO is not a routine posting but a priority dossier under the direct guidance of President Denis Sassou Nguesso. The…

A partnership reaffirmed in Beijing The echo of the red-carpet welcome extended to President Denis Sassou Nguesso in Beijing still reverberates in Brazzaville’s chancelleries. At a press briefing held on 11 September, China’s ambassador An Qing portrayed the visit as the latest chapter in a relationship that has grown from an early strategic partnership in 2016 to what she called a “comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership”. By revisiting the milestones—President Xi Jinping’s 2013 tour, the elevation of ties in 2016 and the recent ceremonies marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War—the envoy sketched a continuum of…

A local initiative with nationwide resonance The narrow, sun-drenched streets of Djiri, Brazzaville’s ninth arrondissement, have found a new rhythm since the Ministry of Territorial Administration officially launched the revision of the national electoral register. At the heart of this effervescence stands the “Dynamique Jeunesse de Djiri”, a civic platform steered by Samarange Gordani Poukouo, whose volunteers weave through courtyards and kiosks urging neighbours to seize what they describe as a “historic window” for influence. “We invite every young person to enrol so that the next ballot will echo their aspirations,” Poukouo told our newsroom during an evening debrief on…

Brazzaville positions itself at the centre of fiscal debate The cavernous conference hall of the ministry compound in downtown Brazzaville filled early on 9 September, as delegates from fifteen African administrations and three European observer missions took their seats. With the Prime Minister on overseas duty, Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Paul Valentin Ngobo assumed the mantle of the opening address, underscoring that Africa’s growth narrative now hinges less on external borrowing and more on the fine-tuning of domestic taxation. His choice of words—“an adapted fiscal architecture for the challenges we face”—set the tone for two days of uncompromising…

Momentum builds around the Majority Elephant platform Less than half a year separates the Republic of Congo from its next presidential election and, in Brazzaville, the mood is unmistakably pre-electoral. Party headquarters have resumed late-night meetings, itinerant caravans and the finely tuned choreography of candidate positioning. Within the ruling majority, preparations crystallise around an organism whose very name evokes mass and steadiness: the Elephant platform. On 27 May, leaders of the parties allied to President Denis Sassou Nguesso adopted core texts—statutes and internal regulations—while renewing their pledge to work for his re-election. Their decision to retain the Elephant as logo…

Regional momentum gathers in Brazzaville Inside a conference room overlooking the Congo River, Minister of State for Public Service, Labour and Social Security Firmin Ayessa formally opened, on 9 September in Brazzaville, a seminar charged with validating the revised accounting framework and performance indicators of the Inter-African Conference on Social Security, better known by its French acronym CIPRES. The three-day meeting brings together senior officials from national social-security institutions, finance controllers and actuarial experts determined to refine a tool deemed crucial for the financial health of the region’s provident funds. The minister noted that social-protection activities within the CIPRES zone…