Author: Inonga Mbala

Strategic Heart of Brazzaville’s Water Security On the northern outskirts of Brazzaville, the Djiri production complex rises above the banks of the eponymous river, silently delivering close to seventy per cent of the capital’s potable water. Its sprawling settling basins and high-capacity pumps are the culmination of a decade of public investment that has allowed the Republic of the Congo to meet a growing urban demand estimated by the National Institute of Statistics at more than forty million cubic metres per year. In recent weeks, however, this strategic infrastructure has been unsettled by a wave of informal construction undertaken by…

Courtrooms Poised for High-Profile Wildlife Hearings On 15 and 16 October the calm corridors of the Owando and Impfondo courts will turn into focal points for Central African conservation. Two defendants, arrested in separate operations conducted by the National Gendarmerie and the Forestry and Water services with technical backing from the Wildlife Law Enforcement Support Project, stand accused of attempting to commercialise trophies from fully protected species. The dual schedule, unusual for offences of this nature, concentrates national attention on the judiciary’s role in dismantling illicit fauna supply chains. Owando: The Ivory File The first dossier, to be examined on…

A consensual roadmap takes shape The conference hall in Brazzaville fell gradually silent on 8 October as delegates endorsed six carefully worded recommendations—signals of a national consensus around the first draft of the Republic of Congo’s Nationally Determined Contribution 3.0 (NDC 3.0). Central among those points is the completion of an exhaustive inventory of mitigation and adaptation measures, a prerequisite for turning aspirations into bankable projects. Participants also called for the swift integration of robust data, particularly in the agricultural sector, recognising both its exposure to climate shocks and its weight in the domestic economy. Memory of the previous cycle…

A Study That Shifts the Climate Lens to Children When Environment, Sustainable Development and Congo Basin Minister Arlette Soudan-Nonault inaugurated the validation workshop for the Climate Landscape Analysis for Children, she signalled a political inflection point. The minister emphasised that minors are “disproportionately exposed to floods, heatwaves and ecosystem degradation” (ACI, 11 Oct 2024). The study, elaborated with UNICEF technical support, argues that any effective adaptation strategy must recognise childhood as the most vulnerable and simultaneously the most promising stage of life. By foregrounding the experience of the young, Brazzaville joins a narrow cohort of African capitals adopting child-centred climate…

Strategic Momentum Towards SDG 6 In Brazzaville this week, the Ministry of Urban Sanitation, Local Development and Road Maintenance convenes what observers describe as a decisive forum: the first national validation workshop for the National Sanitation Policy 2026-2030. The gathering, organised in partnership with UNICEF, is presented as the operational translation of pledges made during the inaugural National Conference on Urban Sanitation. By anchoring the new framework in the Sustainable Development Goal 6—universal access to water and sanitation—Congolese authorities signal their commitment to a global agenda that views hygiene not merely as a social good, but as a cornerstone of…

A decisive sting in the commercial hub of Niari The usually vibrant railway town of Dolisie, capital of the Niari department, was momentarily thrust into the national spotlight when gendarmes, working in concert with officers from the Directorate of Forest Economy and the Wildlife Law Enforcement Support Project (PALF), intercepted two men in possession of four elephant tusks. The operation, made public on 7 October, was executed without incident but with considerable symbolism, the tusks representing the death of at least two elephants – a species accorded the highest level of legal protection by the Republic of Congo. Suspects cooperate…

Ocean Governance at the Heart of Brazzaville The morning mist over the Congolese capital carried an unusual maritime fragrance, as officials, diplomats and students gathered on 25 September to observe World Maritime Day. Convened under the International Maritime Organization’s annual theme, “Our Ocean, Our Responsibility, Our Opportunity,” the ceremony offered more than protocol. It became a forum in which the Republic of Congo asserted its conviction that ocean protection is inseparable from human progress. Reading the government declaration, Minister of Transport, Civil Aviation and Merchant Marine Ingrid Olga Ghislaine Ebouka Babackas framed the ocean as a dual entity: priceless common…

Brazzaville Emerges as a Plant Health Hub For four consecutive days at the close of August 2025, the Republic of the Congo’s capital will serve as a laboratory of ideas on an issue that quietly underpins the continent’s economic and environmental resilience: phytosanitary security. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the International Plant Protection Convention have chosen Brazzaville as the venue where experts from multiple African states will revisit, scrutinise and amend draft international standards designed to curb the spread of plant pests. Their deliberations are expected to set the intellectual pace for Africa’s position during…

Government–World Bank Synergy Bolsters Local Development On 8 August 2025 in the district town of Odziba, the prefect of Djoué-Léfini, Léonidas Carel Mottom Mamoni, cut the ribbon on a project that condenses several strands of Brazzaville’s development doctrine into a single field operation. Known by its French acronym HIMO—Travaux d’assainissement à haute intensité de main-d’œuvre—the programme sits within sub-component 6 of the broader Pro-Climat portfolio financed by the World Bank, with operational support from the World Food Programme and execution by the Congolese NGO Niosi. Officials insist that the scheme reflects President Denis Sassou Nguesso’s emphasis on “développement de proximité,”…

Renewed Momentum in 2025 Operations From the broad marble corridors of Brazzaville’s Ministry of Forest Economy to the remote forest posts abutting the Sangha River, the Republic of Congo has entered 2025 with a discernible acceleration in its fight against wildlife crime. Between January and July, joint teams of the National Gendarmerie and forestry rangers intercepted four trafficking rings operating in Niari, Cuvette and Likouala. Nine alleged offenders were arrested while transporting or offering for sale elephant ivory, leopard skins and giant pangolin scales—items whose trade is strictly prohibited under national law. The arrests mark a modest but significant rise…