Author: Congo Times

A Convergence of Nautical Agendas The discreet yet symbolically weighty encounter held on 1 July in Brazzaville between Éric Olivier Sébastien Dibas-Franck, secretary-general of Congo’s Inter-ministerial Committee on State Action at Sea and Inland Waters, and Egypt’s ambassador Imane Samy Yakout unfolded against a backdrop of rising geopolitical attention to African maritime spaces. While the rendez-vous lasted less than an hour, both diplomats emerged with an unmistakable sense of urgency. “We expect to seal a memorandum on maritime security in the near future,” the ambassador underlined, her comment hinting at the political will in Cairo to transcend customary diplomatic courtesies.…

Federal Council inauguration signals institutional momentum Gathered in late June beneath the high rafters of Brazzaville’s Palais des Sports, delegates from every departmental league convened the first session of the newly elected Federal Council of the Congolese Basketball Federation. The atmosphere, participants recalled, blended ceremony with the quiet urgency of a transition year. Fabrice Makaya Mateve, who secured the federation’s chair last November, used his opening remarks to frame the gathering as a point of institutional continuity, emphasising an ethos of service, consensus and cohesion that mirrors the wider governmental vocabulary of national development. His pledge to ‘refuse the comfort…

A framework anchored in national priorities When Resident Coordinator Abdourahamane Diallo addressed the Congolese press corps on 30 June, he foregrounded a triad of priorities—youth, climate and collective coherence—that had guided the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework throughout 2024. Far from being an exercise in donor-driven conditionality, the UNSDCF was negotiated in close concert with the Ministry of Cooperation and Regional Integration, aligning explicitly with the National Development Plan 2022-2026. This diplomatic synchrony ensured that international resources—both technical and financial—were channelled toward objectives defined in Brazzaville rather than in New York, a nuance often overlooked in discussions of development…

Metallic liquidity as a diplomatic instrument When Governor Yvon Sana Bangui confirmed on 30 June that the Bank of Central African States would circulate an additional tranche of coins across the six CEMAC economies, the statement was more than a logistical footnote. In a region where small-value transactions knit daily commerce, scarcity of change can aggravate inflation, fuel informal currency substitutes and erode confidence in the common monetary architecture. Injecting 500 million CFA francs in denominations from 1 to 500 CFA, including the newly reintroduced 200-franc piece, amounts therefore to a quiet but deliberate act of financial diplomacy. Retail microeconomics…

A railway town defined by history and demography To the traveller following the Congo-Océan Railway south-west from Mont-Mbelo, Makabana emerges as a settlement of nearly 12,000 inhabitants whose collective memory is inseparable from the manganese convoys once organised by the Compagnie minière de l’Ogooué. The industrial chapter closed in the late 1980s, yet the demographic weight of the commune – the third largest in Niari – has continued to grow at an annual 2.3 per cent, according to the National Institute of Statistics. That vitality now obliges policy-makers to reconceive Makabana not as a footnote to mining, but as a…

Strategic Significance of Agri-hub Arturo Bellezza The ribbon-cutting ceremony of 28 June, presided over by President Denis Sassou Nguesso, did not merely unveil a processing plant; it heralded a recalibration of Congo-Brazzaville’s energy narrative. The Agri-hub Arturo Bellezza, anchored in Loudima within the fertile Bouenza corridor, is designed to process oil-bearing crops into advanced biofuel feedstock for both domestic blending mandates and international supply chains. According to official statements, the facility’s first-phase capacity rests on 15 000 hectares of cultivated land, translating into an estimated 1.1 million tonnes of vegetable oil per annum (Ministry of Hydrocarbons, 2024). A Partnership Anchored…

A concession model forged in reform and revenue When the Republic of Congo adopted its celebrated 2000 Forest Code, Brazzaville sought to reconcile biodiversity preservation with industrial expansion in a sector that still contributes roughly 6 % of GDP and more than 10 000 formal jobs according to the Ministry of Forest Economy. Fifteen-year concession agreements signed between 2004 and 2008 with companies such as Congo Dejia Wood Industry and Sino-Congo Forêts were widely hailed at the time as signalling regulatory certainty, foreign-exchange earnings and rural employment (FAO, 2019). Yet the expiry of those agreements between 2019 and 2023 has…

Humanitarian urgency meets diplomatic pragmatism In the pre-dawn quiet of 30 June, trucks bearing the blue insignia of several United Nations agencies rolled past the banks of the Congo River, where entire neighbourhoods still glistened under stagnant water. The convoy did not arrive unannounced: the Ministry of Social Affairs, Solidarity and Humanitarian Action had already activated its crisis mechanism, inviting the multilateral partners to reinforce an operation that was stretching domestic stockpiles. The symbolism of the hand-over ceremony—cabinet members Irène Marie-Cécile Mboukou-Kimbatsa and Juste Désiré Mondelé receiving relief kits from UN resident coordinator Abdourahamane Diallo—was not lost on observers. It…

A New Laboratory as a Diplomatic Signal The hand-over of a US$2.8 million reference microbiology laboratory to the National Tuberculosis Control Programme in late June offered more than state-of-the-art equipment; it sent a calibrated diplomatic message. By receiving the keys from UNDP Resident Representative Adama Dian-Barry, Health Minister Professor Jean-Rosaire Ibara showcased Brazzaville’s readiness to operationalise cutting-edge diagnostics aligned with WHO’s End TB Strategy (WHO, 2024). The ceremony underscored the government’s resolve to pair international support with domestic stewardship, a posture that remains essential for continued trust among donors. Epidemiological Trends Reflect Steady Gains National surveillance data confirm that Congo…

Shifting fault lines and the ascent of female agency Central Africa now occupies a pivotal space where ecological assets, strategic minerals and security corridors collide. Within this high-stakes arena, a cohort of women has moved beyond symbolic representation to assume operational command of key policy portfolios, from sovereign debt renegotiation to multilateral climate talks. Regional observers note that their ascent coincides with both demographic pressure and a search for governance models able to deliver palpable social dividends (African Development Bank, 2024). Far from a mere gender narrative, their leadership echoes a broader recalibration of influence between states, cities, indigenous communities…