Author: Emmanuel Mbemba

A partnership reaffirmed in Beijing The echo of the red-carpet welcome extended to President Denis Sassou Nguesso in Beijing still reverberates in Brazzaville’s chancelleries. At a press briefing held on 11 September, China’s ambassador An Qing portrayed the visit as the latest chapter in a relationship that has grown from an early strategic partnership in 2016 to what she called a “comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership”. By revisiting the milestones—President Xi Jinping’s 2013 tour, the elevation of ties in 2016 and the recent ceremonies marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War—the envoy sketched a continuum of…

Brazzaville positions itself at the centre of fiscal debate The cavernous conference hall of the ministry compound in downtown Brazzaville filled early on 9 September, as delegates from fifteen African administrations and three European observer missions took their seats. With the Prime Minister on overseas duty, Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Paul Valentin Ngobo assumed the mantle of the opening address, underscoring that Africa’s growth narrative now hinges less on external borrowing and more on the fine-tuning of domestic taxation. His choice of words—“an adapted fiscal architecture for the challenges we face”—set the tone for two days of uncompromising…

Regional momentum gathers in Brazzaville Inside a conference room overlooking the Congo River, Minister of State for Public Service, Labour and Social Security Firmin Ayessa formally opened, on 9 September in Brazzaville, a seminar charged with validating the revised accounting framework and performance indicators of the Inter-African Conference on Social Security, better known by its French acronym CIPRES. The three-day meeting brings together senior officials from national social-security institutions, finance controllers and actuarial experts determined to refine a tool deemed crucial for the financial health of the region’s provident funds. The minister noted that social-protection activities within the CIPRES zone…

Brazzaville Seizes the Baton of Regional Integration Central Africa’s institutional calendar marks a new chapter as the Republic of Congo prepares to steer the Union Économique de l’Afrique Centrale. On 10 September in Bangui, Minister of Economy, Planning, Statistics and Regional Integration Ludovic Ngatsé is scheduled to assume the rotating presidency of the UEAC Council of Ministers. In parallel, the summit of Heads of State will entrust President Denis Sassou Nguesso with the chairmanship of the CEMAC Conference, symbolically aligning national and regional leadership at a moment of renewed impetus for integration. A Dual Mandate: UEAC Council and PREF-CEMAC Oversight…

Brazzaville statement reignites a simmering dispute The first week of September opened with a rare but determined intervention from the National Collective of Abandoned Day Labourers of Energie Électrique du Congo, E2C’s sprawling public-utility subsidiary. In a carefully worded communiqué issued in Brazzaville on 5 September, the group expresses what it calls a “deep frustration” at the absence of concrete follow-up to the tripartite talks of 11 March 2025 between workers’ delegates, E2C executives and officials from the Ministry of Energy and Hydraulics. The statement, seen by this newspaper, accuses the company of allowing the agreed roadmap to “remain a…

Congo-Brazzaville at centre stage of continental commerce For one week, from 4 to 10 September 2025, the Parc des expositions des Pins Maritimes in Algiers has become a vast agora for Africa’s economic ambitions. More than 2,000 exhibitors from over 75 nations, backed by delegations hailing from 140 countries and an expected footfall of 35,000 visitors, converged on the Algerian capital for the fourth Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF 2025). In this forum Minister of State Alphonse Claude N’Silou, in charge of Commerce, Supplies and Consumption, carried the mandate of President Denis Sassou-Nguesso. His presence reaffirmed Brazzaville’s resolve to tie national…

High-Level Dialogue Reinforces Investor Confidence When President Denis Sassou Nguesso met Wing Wah Group’s Chairman Xiao Lianping in Beijing, the conversation unfolded as a subtle yet potent advertisement for the Republic of Congo’s economic credentials. Speaking immediately after the audience, Xiao described the Congolese business environment as “welcoming and predictably regulated,” stressing consistent governmental backing and what he called “the warmth of a population that sees investors as partners” (Xinhua, 3 September 2023). The remark resonates with wider regional assessments by the African Development Bank, which has repeatedly credited Brazzaville for pragmatic reforms on taxation and foreign-exchange repatriation (AfDB 2022…

Dolisie’s Geographic Leverage in Congo’s Transport Grid Nested at the crossroads linking Pointe-Noire, Brazzaville and the northern forest corridor, Dolisie enjoys a positional advantage that long predates motorised travel. The current bus terminal capitalises on this legacy, funnelling passengers toward economic centres such as Loudima, Nkayi and Kibangou while offering a convenient pivot for trans-provincial trade. Ministry of Transport estimates suggest that more than ninety per cent of domestic passenger journeys still occur by road, underscoring the terminal’s strategic relevance (Congolese transport statistics, 2024). A Marketplace of Movement and Micro-Entrepreneurship From sunrise to dusk, the station becomes a living tableau…

Strategic Value of Mayoko Iron Reserves When President Denis Sassou Nguesso lands in Mayoko in the Niari department, he will be stepping onto terrain that hosts one of Central Africa’s largest untapped iron deposits. Government data released in Brazzaville last August attributes to the Mayoko-Moussondji permit an estimated 917 million tonnes of reserves, of which 38.5 million tonnes can be extracted immediately. Projections submitted by Ulsan Mining Congo S.A.U. envisage an initial annual output of 300 000 tonnes, scaling to 16.5 million tonnes once hard-rock seams are exploited. By any regional measure the 30-year licence marks a cornerstone in Congo-Brazzaville’s…

A start-up ascent that captured Brazzaville’s imagination When Jonathan Yanghat launched Noki-Noki with two motorbikes and a minimalist mobile interface, the venture epitomised the promise of Central African tech. Within a brief span, the company declared capital raises approaching two million United States dollars, positioning itself as a regional pioneer in on-demand logistics across Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Local business forums praised the founder’s boldness, and investment decks circulated in regional accelerators as case studies of home-grown ingenuity. Such narratives resonated with policymakers in Brazzaville, who routinely underscore the importance of small- and medium-sized…