Author: Congo Times

Anatomy of a Deluge: From the Congo River to Talangaï’s Backyards The first week of June brought yet another bout of torrential rains to Brazzaville, quickly transforming the low-lying districts of Talangaï and Mfilou into a labyrinth of muddy canals. Hydrologists at the University of Kinshasa attribute the sudden rise of the Congo River to a convergence of El Niño-induced precipitation and upstream deforestation that has reduced natural absorption capacity (African Climate Centre, 2024). In Talangaï alone, nearly 5,000 households saw their foundations dissolve in less than forty-eight hours, a human-made vulnerability compounded by decades of informal construction on floodplains.…

A continental rendez-vous in Addis Ababa fuels governance scrutiny The cavernous halls of the African Union Commission in Addis Ababa rarely lack diplomatic theatre, yet the 10th African Public Service Day offered a particularly revealing tableau. Delegations from thirty-two member states, together with representatives of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs and the African Development Bank, converged under the official theme of bolstering institutional “agility and resilience.” While the agenda echoed familiar multilateral rhetoric, the interventions acquired sharper texture against a post-pandemic backdrop that has laid bare chronic service-delivery gaps across the continent (African Union Secretariat, 2023).…

Viennese overture to Brazzaville’s post-oil ambitions The arrival of Jean-Marc Thystère-Tchicaya and Rosalie Matondo in Vienna on 22 June 2025 placed the Republic of Congo’s diversification gamble squarely under Europe’s chandeliered diplomatic spotlight. The Ministers for Special Economic Zones and Forestry, respectively, are spearheading Brazzaville’s pivot away from hydrocarbon dependence, which still accounts for roughly 60 percent of state revenue according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF, 2024). The invitation came from ASC Impact, an Austrian-based investment vehicle positioning itself at the confluence of climate finance and industrial processing. The underlying wager is clear: that Congo’s 22 million-hectare rainforest belt,…

A Spectre of 2014 Haunts Ouagadougou When Burkinabè crowds torched the National Assembly in October 2014, the gesture signalled more than the end of Blaise Compaoré’s interminable presidency; it announced a popular authorship of constitutional order. The chants—“Hands off our Constitution” and “We are the future”—reclaimed sovereignty as a collective verb rather than a juridical noun. Political scientists duly celebrated a rare instance of non-violent regime change in the Sahel. Yet, almost ten years on, the promise of popular authorship appears suspended rather than fulfilled, raising the question of what became of that insurgent grammar. From Palace Fires to Parade…

An emerging axis between New Delhi and Kinshasa The discreet arrival of multiple Indian delegations in Kinshasa since January has confirmed that New Delhi no longer sees the Democratic Republic of the Congo merely as a distant peacekeeping theatre. According to senior Congolese officers, at least three separate teams from Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Bharat Electronics and Tata Advanced Systems have presented product catalogues ranging from light utility helicopters to encrypted battlefield radios (Le Potentiel, 4 April 2024). The tempo of visits has been matched by sustained diplomatic contact: India’s ambassador to the DRC, Madan-Lal Raheja, held two rounds of talks…

A gesture wrapped in velvet diplomacy When President Lazarus Chakwera dispatched former foreign minister Eisenhower Nduwa Mkaka to the Moroccan capital this week, the choreography was as telling as the communiqué. The special envoy carried a personal message to King Mohammed VI and emerged from Rabat’s foreign ministry studios to proclaim, once again, that “no solution can be considered outside the framework of Morocco’s territorial integrity.” Those words, echoed previously by Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Senegal, matter precisely because they collide with the African Union’s official posture of neutrality and the UN doctrine of self-determination. In the choreography…

A Chronic Shortage with Deep Roots The image of kilometre-long queues at petrol stations in Brazzaville has become a recurring tableau, belying the paradox of a country that exports crude but struggles to fill domestic tanks. Hydrocarbons Minister Bruno Jean Richard Itoua, addressing senators in early May, admitted that the problem is “structural” and can no longer be treated as a passing inconvenience. His assessment converges with observations in the IMF’s latest Article IV report, which notes that a legacy of under-investment, opaque subsidies and debt overhang has left the downstream segment ill-equipped to cope with demand spikes (IMF 2024).…

An unexpected ballot upset in Abuja In a closed-door vote on 22 June in Abuja, delegates to the 67th Ordinary Session of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission defied the long-standing convention of linguistic alternation. The Sierra Leonean head of state, Julius Maada Bio, secured a simple majority, edging out Senegal’s Bassirou Diomaye Faye, whose candidacy had been widely regarded as a fait accompli by analysts and diplomats alike (Reuters, ECOWAS communiqué). The scene was almost theatrical: moments after touching down in the Nigerian capital, Faye was being congratulated for a victory that never materialised. Francophonie’s waning…

Diplomatic Overture in the Heart of Europe The arrival in Vienna of Jean-Marc Thystère-Tchicaya and Rosalie Matondo, flanked by Ambassador Édith Itoua, signalled more than a routine investment road-show. Vienna’s Hofburg, long accustomed to discreet shuttle diplomacy, hosted a ceremony in which the Congolese cabinet members and the Austrian venture ASC Impact initialed protocols covering an eventual multibillion-euro package for forestry, agro-industry and a new enclave within the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) of Oyo-Ollombo. Former Federal President Heinz Fischer and former agriculture minister Elisabeth Köstinger offered political imprimatur, underscoring Austria’s desire to project climate leadership beyond the EU’s eastern frontier.…

Brazzaville positions teacher professionalisation at the core of national development Inside an austere conference room overlooking the Congo River, senior officials from the Ministry of Primary, Secondary and Literacy Education sit shoulder to shoulder with representatives of the Agence universitaire de la Francophonie, UNESCO and the Agence française de développement. They are refining the annual work plan that will drive Phase III of “Apprendre”, a programme tailored to professionalising teaching practices in eight Francophone states. For Brazzaville, the outcome transcends the education sector: the government regards the initiative as a fulcrum for its new National Development Plan, which hinges on…