Author: Congo Times

High-Stakes Group Stage Drama The final whistle in Abidjan on 19 August drew a discreet curtain on Congo’s ambitions for a quarter-final berth at the African Nations Championship, yet the storyline proved richer than the 0-2 scoreline against Nigeria might suggest. Entering the decisive encounter with two draws, the Diables Rouges required a victory by at least two goals to progress. Anas Yusuf’s angular finish just after half-time and Alimi’s stoppage-time counterattack denied that mathematical prospect, consigning Congo to the foot of Group D behind Sudan, Senegal and Nigeria. Local commentators on Télé Congo were quick to note that the…

A Strategic Convergence of Soft Power When ten-year-old Davina Nkenko Sita and her compatriot Céleste Malanda Mayinga stepped onto the parquet floor of the Grâce Céleste Academy in Sochi this August, they did far more than perfect ribbon routines. Their presence exemplified the deliberate recourse to sports diplomacy by the Republic of the Congo and the Russian Federation, two states that have sustained cordial ties since the 1960s. Moscow’s decision to open its elite facilities to Congolese athletes and Brazzaville’s readiness to seize that offer converge upon a common calculus: cultivating goodwill, projecting national narratives and grooming future champions in…

Digital Education Momentum in Brazzaville When the Secretary-General of the Conference of Ministers of Youth and Sport of the Francophonie, Louisette Thobi, stepped into the modest headquarters of EduLab Mobile on the outskirts of Brazzaville, she found a small team methodically assembling sensors, microscopes and low-energy servers into a van chassis. Her satisfaction, expressed after the visit, resonated with the Congolese government’s wider drive to weave digital inclusion into the fabric of national development. Since 2021, President Denis Sassou Nguesso has placed youth innovation at the centre of the National Development Plan, encouraging public–private alliances that widen access to science,…

Parliamentary Oversight at the Forefront The final gavel of the ninth ordinary session of the Congolese National Assembly resonated far beyond the chamber’s marbled walls. In a carefully calibrated address, Speaker Isidore Mvouba urged deputies to “shadow the government at the belt,” invoking a sporting metaphor to convey a measured yet unambiguous call for intensified legislative scrutiny. Far from signalling confrontation, the appeal fits within the presidency’s broader narrative of constructive accountability, a theme that has gained salience amid regional macroeconomic headwinds and the ongoing reform programme agreed with the Central African Economic and Monetary Community, CEMAC. Diplomatic observers noted…

MTN strategic realignment in Francophone Africa With a single communiqué released in Johannesburg, MTN Group signalled a decisive recalibration of its continental footprint, appointing Karl Toriola as Vice-President in charge of Francophone Africa. The reorganisation comes as the operator, already serving more than 290 million subscribers, seeks to consolidate fast-growing markets where smartphone penetration is climbing by double digits even in a subdued global economy (Reuters, 2024). The portfolio now under Toriola’s watch—Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin and Congo-Brazzaville—accounts for a disproportionate share of the group’s data-revenue momentum. By bringing those geographies under a unified executive command, MTN is aiming to…

Diplomatic Pedagogy Meets Cultural Heritage In mid-August, the quiet gardens of Brazzaville’s Olympic Palace resonated with the confident footsteps of forty young women clad in pastel business attire. They were the inaugural cohort of Pupuce Academy’s master class, a four-day programme designed to convert raw talent into poised leadership. The timing was hardly accidental. Congo-Brazzaville’s National Development Plan 2022-2026 seeks to increase female participation in decision-making arenas, and the initiative’s patronage by Aurélie Makosso, spouse of the Prime Minister, endows it with both visibility and diplomatic gravitas (Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, 14 Aug 2023). Honouring the Legacy of Pupuce Ibata…

Parade as Geostrategic Showcase The sixty-fifth anniversary of Congolese independence offered more than ceremonial splendour. Under the stewardship of President Denis Sassou Nguesso, Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, the 15 August parade evolved into a calibrated message of state capacity aimed at domestic constituencies and foreign observers alike. Analysts from the Africa Center for Strategic Studies note that regional militaries increasingly exploit national days to communicate deterrence and reliability to neighbours contending with transnational threats (Africa Center, 2024). Against that backdrop, the motorised block of the Directorate-General for Finance and Equipment of Internal Security (DGFE) rolled down Boulevard Alfred…

A new diplomatic platform in Shanghai The inauguration of the African Energy Chamber’s first overseas bureau in Shanghai crystallises a decade of deepening energy diplomacy between Beijing and African capitals. Strategically situated in China’s commercial nerve centre, the office is designed to operate as a clearing-house for information, finance and technical expertise, echoing the Chamber’s stated goal of transforming the continent from a peripheral supplier into a proactive architect of the global energy landscape. Dr Bieni Da, a veteran of both Chinese state institutions and African investment banks, has been appointed Chief Representative, giving the structure an immediate network in…

Sanitation Works Amplify Congo’s Climate Agenda From the marshy banks of the Djoué River to the sandstone cliffs of the Lefini, a concerted clean-up operation has been under way since 8 August in the districts of Odziba and Ngabé and in the neighbouring villages of Mpoumako, Inoni Falaise and Inoni Plateau. More than a thousand residents have exchanged their usual farming tools for shovels and wheelbarrows, removing refuse, reshaping drainage channels and stabilising footpaths that serve the surrounding Protected Agricultural Zones. The campaign forms the latest component of the Project for Inclusive and Climate-Resilient Economic Activities (Proclimat), a US $19…

Half-Year Metrics Signal Determined Enforcement From January to July 2025 the Republic of Congo recorded nine arrests linked to the illegal trade in fully protected species, a figure that, while modest in absolute terms, already equals the total registered during the entire 2024 calendar year according to the Ministry of Forest Economy. The suspects were apprehended in Dolisie, Owando and Impfondo during four coordinated raids led by the national gendarmerie and forest rangers, with technical support from the Wildlife Law Enforcement Support Project, better known by its French acronym PALF. Seizures included leopard skins, giant pangolin scales and ivory tusks,…