Author: Congo Times

Luanda opener sets the tone for the Angola 50 Years fête An electric atmosphere filled the Kilamba arena in Luanda as the host nation inaugurated the Angola 50 Years international handball tournament, a sporting jewel embedded in the golden-jubilee celebrations of the Republic of Angola. In the curtain-raiser, the Angolan senior women’s team—ten-time African champions—prevailed 25-21 against a Congolese side that refused to be awed by pedigree or home support. The four-goal margin, modest by the standards of recent duels between the two Central African neighbours, drew applause from observers who sensed a competitive balance emerging on the continent. A…

Farewell to a Patriarch of the PCT The soft morning light of 17 September filtered through the columns of Brazzaville’s downtown cemetery as the flag-draped coffin of Vital Balla was carried to its final resting place. Party cadres, government representatives and a cross-section of civil society stood in solemn silence, conscious that they were witnessing the departure of one of the last living architects of the Congolese Party of Labour. From the rostrum, Secretary-General Pierre Moussa evoked a man whose “force of conviction and unwavering commitment to peace made him an icon of our national story.” At the request of…

Strategic land allocation for potash export hub The Council of Ministers convened on 17 September 2025 at the Palais du Peuple under the high authority of President Denis Sassou Nguesso. Foremost among the measures adopted was the authorisation for the Chinese-Congolese firm Luyuan des Mines Congo to occupy 577 hectares in the Hollmoni area of Loango, Kouilou. The decree converts a state land reserve into an industrial zone slated for a deep-water port dedicated to potash pellets. Valued at over 200 million US dollars, the investment is projected to generate roughly 1 500 jobs during construction and more than 800…

Symbolic Diplomacy at Bangui Summit When the six Heads of State of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa converged on Bangui for the sixteenth CEMAC Conference, protocol quickly gave way to symbolism. In the gilded halls of the Palais de la Reconnaissance, 193 personalities were decorated, including all incumbent leaders of the sub-region and the President of the CEMAC Commission, Baltasar Engonga Edjo’o, each elevated to Grand-Commander of the Order of Community Merit. The gesture, rare in scale, publicly reaffirmed a collective commitment to the regional project at a moment when external shocks and fiscal tightening test cohesion…

Field command in the 7th district On 12 September 2025, well before the tropical dusk settled over Brazzaville, the Commander of the Congolese Police, General André Fils Obami Itou, arrived unannounced in the streets of Mfilou, the capital’s populous seventh arrondissement. Flanked by the district’s mayor, Bibiane Kouloumbou, he crossed the dusty esplanade where block leaders and quartier chiefs had gathered after a summons issued barely twenty-four hours earlier. According to a communiqué from the Ministry of the Interior released the same evening, the visit formed part of a broader series of “citizen encounters” launched in early September to recalibrate…

Ocean-side mobilisation for December’s Congress A carefully choreographed gathering at the Port Autonome de Pointe-Noire drew a dense crowd of militants and sympathisers as Political Commissioner Firmin Ayessa formally opened the sixth Conference of Committee Presidents for the city’s federation of the Congolese Party of Labour. The event, held on 14 September, served a dual purpose: consolidating ideological training and launching the special contribution destined to underwrite the party’s sixth Ordinary Congress scheduled for December. Ayessa’s opening address set the tone. “Each of you will leave this political school armed with the qualitative surplus required to invigorate the party’s structures,”…

Presidential Envoy Reaches Out to Paris-Based Expatriates The marbled hall of an association venue in northern Paris briefly echoed Brazzaville’s cadenced French on 13 September. Rodrigue Malanda-Samba, political adviser to President Denis Sassou Nguesso, convened a second “rencontre citoyenne” with the Congolese diaspora. The emissary’s message was unequivocal: “The authorities only wish to see you come home, and no one will be jailed for doing so.” His declaration, delivered in measured yet confident tones, sought to dispel lingering apprehensions among expatriates who fear judicial or political reprisals upon return. A Measured Response to Security Concerns Several interlocutors raised the spectre…

Gulf Capitals Spotlight Brazzaville’s Renewed Activism In the space of forty-eight hours, Minister of International Cooperation and Public-Private Partnership Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso has threaded together high-level meetings in Muscat, Doha and Kuwait City. The objective is unambiguous: consolidate a critical mass of endorsements for Firmin Édouard Matoko, Brazzaville’s official nominee to succeed Audrey Azoulay at the helm of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation. By staging its campaign in the Gulf, Congo signals both a determination to diversify diplomatic alliances and an appreciation for the pivotal role Middle Eastern members play within UNESCO’s Executive Board. Speaking in…

Parliamentary Voice Marks International Democracy Day The marble-floored hemicycle in Brazzaville resonated with a unanimous declaration as the National Assembly joined the global observance of International Democracy Day, instituted by the United Nations in 2008. Reading the statement on behalf of the bureau, Second Secretary Alain Pascal Leyinda emphasised that democracy, in the Congolese understanding, reaches far beyond electoral choreography and constitutes “a daily ethic of dignity, participation, transparency and justice”. By anchoring its message to this year’s United Nations theme—“Achieving gender equality, action by action”—the lower chamber asserted that the aspiration to inclusive governance is not rhetorical ornament but…

Casablanca as the diplomatic-financial stage By choosing Morocco’s economic capital for the 14-15 September 2025 Investment Round Table, President Faustin-Archange Touadéra signalled a deliberate pivot toward continental marketplaces able to lend both capital and credibility. He framed the venue as a tribute to “excellent historical relations” with Rabat and to King Mohammed VI’s pledge for shared prosperity, yet the decision also embeds Bangui within Casablanca Finance City’s fast-growing ecosystem, now home to more than two hundred twenty banks, insurers and funds active across Africa. A $10.7 billion roadmap anchored in realism Valued at roughly seven thousand billion CFA francs, the…