Author: Imara Mbuyi

Strategic Warehousing for Grid Stability Few events in the technical life of a power network attract political symbolism. Yet the hand-over of two purpose-built warehouses to Energie Électrique du Congo (E2C) on 28 July in Brazzaville was staged with the ceremonial solemnity usually reserved for power-plant inaugurations. Standing among rows of freshly painted steel racks, Minister of Energy and Hydraulics Emile Ouosso saluted what he called “the quiet insurance policy of our transmission backbone,” a reference to the 2 000 m² of sheltered floor space now allocated exclusively to transformers, circuit breakers and gas-insulated components. The facilities—one at Itatolo in…

Strategic Vision Beyond Megawatts When Minister of Energy and Hydraulics Émile Ouosso convened power-sector actors in Brazzaville, the agenda ran deeper than the technicalities of adding transformers. The National Energy Pact, colloquially branded Electricity for All, is framed as a development doctrine aligned with the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the UN Sustainable Development Goal 7. By pledging to electrify more than 800,000 households by the end of the decade, the government signals that electrons are the new currency of inclusion. Officials close to the dossier stress that reliable power is intended to irrigate every layer of the national development…

A Development Pact Sealed in Brazzaville Few diplomatic ceremonies in Brazzaville have carried as much technocratic symbolism as the July 2025 launch of the Project for the Improvement of Electricity Services, universally abbreviated as PASEL. Flanked by cabinet colleagues, Minister of Energy and Hydraulics Emile Ouosso welcomed senior World Bank officials, including regional energy director Jie Tang, to underscore a shared conviction: reliable electricity is the sine qua non of economic diversification. The tone was neither triumphalist nor apologetic; rather it reflected a calibrated optimism that echoes the priorities of the National Development Plan 2022-2026 (Ministry of Planning, 2024). Strategic…

Pointe-Noire consultative summit sets benchmark The methodical ritual by which the Republic of Congo determines its reference prices for hydrocarbons unfolded once again between 10 and 12 July in the Atlantic hub of Pointe-Noire. Presided over by Minister of Hydrocarbons Bruno Jean Richard Itoua, the session gathered specialists from the Société Nationale des Pétroles du Congo, representatives of international operators and fiscal planners from the Ministry of Finance. After examining loading programmes, cargo realisations and the evolving Brent curve, the experts converged on a quarterly average of 66.401 USD per barrel, reflecting a modest negative differential of 0.668 USD against…

Pointe-Noire forum anchors fiscal predictability From 10 to 12 July, the Atlantic port city of Pointe-Noire became the epicentre of Congolese hydrocarbon diplomacy as Minister of Hydrocarbons Bruno Jean Richard Itoua chaired the statutory price-setting meeting. Gathered around the same table were reservoir engineers, fiscal experts and senior executives from the main operators, including TotalEnergies EP Congo, Eni Congo and Perenco. Their mandate, framed by production-sharing contracts and domestic regulations, was straightforward yet delicate: to translate three months of trading data into official sale prices that will guide both state revenue forecasts and corporate lifting programmes until October. The mechanism,…

Persistent fuel shortage tests post-COVID recovery Queues at filling stations stretching into the early hours of the morning have become an unexpected barometer of economic sentiment in Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire. Since late May, intermittent shortages of gasoline and gasoil have rattled small businesses, public transport operators and households already coping with the lingering effects of the pandemic and global inflationary currents. The Ministry of Hydrocarbons attributes the crunch to a confluence of factors: scheduled maintenance at the Congolaise de raffinage (Coraf), unplanned shipping delays and a structural mismatch between fast-growing demand and domestic refining capacity. According to the African Development…

First cargo signals a strategic inflection for Brazzaville The departure of the inaugural liquefied natural gas shipment from the Marine XII block in February 2024 quietly but decisively altered Central Africa’s energy cartography. At the quayside of the Président-Sassou terminal in Pointe-Noire, senior officials hailed not merely a commercial milestone but a technological and environmental statement: the cargo was produced without routine gas flaring, an African first according to operators and corroborated by the African Energy Chamber. The symbolism is twofold. On one hand, Brazzaville enters the restricted club of LNG exporters at a moment of profound reordering of global…

A strategic conversation emerges in Pointe-Noire Behind the discreet façade of the Hôtel Elaïs, overlooking the Atlantic swells that first carried prospectors to Congo-Brazzaville’s shores, a two-day conclave gathered on 26-27 June 2025. Convened by Rencontre pour la paix et les droits de l’homme (RDPH) under the stewardship of its president, Christian Mounzéo, the roundtable sought to examine a deceptively simple question: how can a hydrocarbon-dependent economy secure prosperity beyond the era of easy barrels? Representatives of energy companies, coastal communities, government agencies and international partners accepted the invitation, aware that Pointe-Noire’s refinery skyline symbolises both economic lifeline and potential…

Stakeholders Converge in Pointe-Noire The port city of Pointe-Noire, long synonymous with offshore rigs and tanker traffic, briefly reinvented itself as a forum for energy diplomacy on 26–27 June. Convened by the Rencontre pour la Paix et les Droits de l’Homme (RPDH) and financially backed by Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors with technical input from Energy Transition Fund, the consultation gathered representatives of the Kouilou departmental council, the municipality, line ministries, parliament, local communities and international observers. Although civil society hosted the event, high-ranking public officials such as Bienvenu Makosso Dangui and Philippes M’Boumba underscored the administration’s interest in the exercise, signalling…

Global Benchmark Rally Sparks Limited Regional Contagion Brent futures vaulted from 83 to nearly 97 US dollars per barrel in the two trading sessions that followed Iran’s symbolic drone strike on Israeli territory in mid-April, reflecting traders’ traditional risk premium whenever the Strait of Hormuz is mentioned. Yet West and Central African spot cargos largely sidestepped the spike, a reality noticed by Cameroonian import planners as early as the 48-hour post-incident window (Bloomberg). Fiscal Buffering Under Yaoundé’s 2024 Budget Architecture Finance Minister Louis Paul Motaze reminded the National Assembly that the 2024 finance law pencilled in an oil reference price…