Author: Emmanuel Tshibola

A flagship campus reshaping northern Brazzaville The afternoon sun of 24 October bathed the northern suburb of Talangaï as President Denis Sassou Nguesso cut the tricolour ribbon of the Liberté School Complex, a project long anticipated by parents and teachers alike. Rising on three hectares in the vibrant 6th arrondissement, the campus comprises twenty-four buildings—twelve of them two-storey blocks—surrounded by courtyards planted with young acacias that hint at an oasis of learning in an increasingly dense urban fabric. According to the technical brief presented by Maixent Raoul Ominga, Director-General of the Société nationale des pétroles du Congo, the complex offers…

A Regional Forum Elevating Girls’ Voices On 10 and 11 October, Dakar turns into the epicentre of a continental conversation as the Girls Summit 2025 convenes more than 250 young change-makers from 24 African states under the auspices of UNICEF Africa. The meeting, expressly designed by and for adolescents, crowns a year-long cycle of country consultations on schooling, health, nutrition, protection and civic participation. Dakar’s agenda therefore mirrors the priorities repeatedly voiced in Brazzaville, Abidjan or Nairobi: ending the gender gap in classrooms, shielding girls from early marriage, and recognising their centrality in climate resilience. The organisers are keen to…

A Regional First in Currency Authentication In a move widely read as a technological turning point for Central African finance, the Bank of Central African States has unveiled BEAC NG2020, a free mobile application allowing immediate verification of the latest-generation CFA franc banknotes. The tool, compatible with Android and iOS platforms, invites users to scan or manually compare a note’s tactile imprints, colour-shifting inks and micro-lettering against the official security matrix introduced with the 2020 series. It is the first time in the almost half-century history of the regional bank that digital means are placed directly in the hands of…

Brazzaville’s House of Russian Culture Revisits Classical Ambition The arched façade of the Maison Russe in downtown Brazzaville hardly betrayed the academic suspense unfolding inside on 8 July. Yet behind its doors ten finalists from five secondary schools—Nganga Édouard, La Réconciliation, Sébastien Mafouta, Thomas Sankara B and Atlas—were giving voice to Anna Karénina in Russian, each allotted precisely three minutes to persuade a jury steeped in philological rigor. The scene capped a month-long national pre-selection for the 2025 International Russian Language Olympiad, an event whose stakes reach well beyond the realm of grammar drills. In the words of Maria Fakhrutdinova,…