Author: Congo Times

Historic Throne Day Address and Its Stakes Every 29 July, the Throne Day address operates as a compass for Morocco’s political class and partner capitals alike. The twenty-sixth speech of King Mohammed VI, delivered from the Royal Palace in Tetouan, reaffirmed a doctrine of gradual modernisation tempered by social cohesion (Royal Court broadcast, 29 July 2024). By foregrounding the correction of territorial disparities the monarch arguably recast the social contract, insisting that macroeconomic vibrancy must “touch every province and every citizen.” Seasoned diplomats in Rabat note that Throne speeches rarely introduce abrupt turns; rather, they consolidate incremental reforms and alert…

European Qualifiers Showcase Congolese Talent The second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League and its sister Conference League offered a vivid canvas for Congolese footballers determined to inscribe their names on the continental stage. In Cyprus, AEK Larnaca’s 2–1 dismissal of Slovenia’s Celje was sealed with the late inclusion of left-back Jérémie Gnali, freshly returned from suspension, whose controlled presence helped the hosts protect their lead (UEFA match report). Meanwhile, in Georgia, Romaric Etou and Déo Gracias Bassinga featured prominently for Dila Gori in a riveting 3–3 draw against Riga; Bassinga’s instinctive finish from close range highlighted the clutch…

African Coalition Rallies in Yamoussoukro The echo of traditional drums in Yamoussoukro on 29 July signalled more than cultural celebration; it marked the formal launch of an international citizens’ mobilisation steered by the Confederation of African UNESCO Clubs and Associations (CACU) in support of Firmin Édouard Matoko, the Republic of Congo’s candidate for the organisation’s top job. Beneath the ceremony’s pageantry lay a calculated diplomatic move aimed at consolidating Africa’s forty-eight votes inside the UNESCO Executive Board before the October ballot (Agence ivoirienne de presse, 29 July 2025). CACU president Allogmom Gabin framed the initiative as a continental responsibility rather…

Origin of JIFA and the Pan-African Feminist Milieu On 31 July 1974, in the brisk air of Dakar, the third congress of the Conference of African Women chose to rename itself the Pan-African Women’s Organisation, thereby institutionalising what is now observed across capitals as International African Women’s Day. The date, deliberately anchored in the period of intense anti-colonial ferment, reminds diplomats that gender emancipation and national liberation were never separate projects. Minutes of the inaugural 1962 meeting in Dar-Es-Salaam attest to the presence of sixteen delegations that included the Front de Libération du Mozambique and the South-West Africa People’s Organisation,…

A strategic investment in human capital When the National Fund for Employability and Apprenticeship unveiled its gleaming training vehicle in Brazzaville, the gesture went far beyond the novelty of technology on wheels. In a nation where more than sixty per cent of the population is under thirty and where, according to the World Bank (2023), youth unemployment remains near twenty per cent, the capacity to diffuse market-relevant skills is tantamount to safeguarding social cohesion. By financing the prototype, the government underscores a conviction that sustainable growth rests on the calibre, not merely the number, of its young citizens. Over the…

A Record of Reliability in Continental Competition In the often-volatile landscape of African football, the Republic of Congo has nurtured a rare virtue: regularity. Since the 2018 edition of the African Nations Championship, the Diables Rouges A’ have checked into every continental camp, marking four consecutive appearances and five in total. Only a handful of federations can claim comparable persistence, a point quietly acknowledged by observers at the Confederation of African Football (CAF) who see Congo as a “pillar of continuity” in a tournament designed exclusively for domestically based players. The challenge now is to translate presence into podium, for…

Brazzaville prepares a showroom for Congolese timber art Each August, the banks of the Congo River swell with equatorial humidity and diplomatic expectations alike. From 11 to 25 August, the fourth Salon des métiers du bois—popularly abbreviated Sameb—will convert Brazzaville’s exhibition grounds into a living gallery of Congolese woodcraft. By placing the slogan “Bois et artisanat : de la forêt à la maison, consommons congolais” at the centre of its branding, organisers appeal to a double ambition: revitalising an artisanal tradition and inserting it more firmly in national consumption patterns. Minister of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Handicrafts Jacqueline Lydia…

A Trophy that Signals Strategic Alignment When Africa Global Logistics (AGL) unveiled its annual CSR 2025 trophy in Paris earlier this year, the accolade travelled swiftly to Pointe-Noire. The Congolese subsidiary emerged first among more than sixty francophone and anglophone entities assessed by the group’s Quality, Health, Safety and Environment division. In the words of AGL’s global QHSE & CSR director Olivier Restoueix, the award reflects “an identity anchored in responsible enterprise”. His statement is more than corporate rhetoric: it mirrors the Congolese authorities’ pledge, reiterated in the National Development Plan 2022-2026, to harness private-sector capital for sustainable transformation. By…

Soft Ballads amid the “Ivorian Miracle” When broadcasters in Abidjan first placed the microphone in front of Daouda Koné in 1976, Ivory Coast was riding the crest of an economic boom often labelled the “Ivorian Miracle” by the World Bank. President Félix Houphouët-Boigny’s developmental formula of agricultural exports, franc-zone stability and political consensus had turned the country into a rare African showcase of modern highways and neon-lit nightlife (World Bank, 1984). Against a continental backdrop where Fela Kuti condemned military juntas in Nigeria and Thomas Mapfumo harangued Rhodesian rule from Zimbabwe, Daouda offered a discreetly different register: soft-spoken ballads in…

Setting the stage at Marien-Ngouabi University On 30 July the conference hall of Marien-Ngouabi University’s rectorate filled with a quiet, studious tension. Twenty young women—from final-year pupils to civil servants—took their seats for the written segment of the second Miss Mayele contest, an initiative crafted by Congolese scholar Sylvia Djouob, now a professor of French literature in Paris. The one-hour examination, composed entirely of multiple-choice grammar questions, had a remit far broader than syntactic precision: it sought to anchor intellectual self-confidence in a society where, historically, public space has leaned masculine. Miss Mayele emerged in 2022 as a cultural response…