Africa > Central Africa > Congo Brazzaville

Congo Brazzaville

Capital: Brazzaville ; GDP growth (annual %) 2015 : 6.8%

Tripartite Free Trade Area plods along slowly in Africa

Trade between African nations has long been outstripped by intra-regional trade in other parts of the world – for Africa as a whole, intra-regional trade is between 10% and 13% of total trade. This is far lower than in regions such as the EU, where about 60% of trade is between member states, and the Association of South-east Asian Nations, which has a rate of about 25%. Intra-regional trade in North America is put at about 40%.

However, the ratification of the Tripartite Free Trade Sector(TFTA) – potentially later in 2017 – could help change that and push the development of additional intra-regional trade increase. A pan-regional free-trade zone, the TFTA stretches from Cairo to Cape Town and encompasses 26 African nations.

Africa’s Tripartite Free Trade Area would reduce regional tariffs and create a pan-African single market, to aid development and cash in on a growing middle class in the continent. But with member countries often belonging to multiple economic areas, progress is both complex and slow, as Kit Gillet reports.

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Global economic gravity rapidly pulling towards Africa

The second International Conference on the Emergence of Africa (ICEA) was held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, in March 2017.

Since the initial conference in 2015 — at a time of robust economic increase on the continent — hopes for economic evolution have dimmed because of a crash in the price of commodities, volatile world financial markets and a slowdown in world increase. Before departing New York to attend the second ICEA conference, jointly organised by the World Bank, the African Development Bank and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Assistant Secretary-General of the UN and chief of UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Africa Abdoulaye Mar Dieye sat down for an interview with Africa Renewal’s Kingsley Ighobor to talk about Africa’s economic development opportunities and challenges.
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How to boost private sector investment in Africa’s electricity infrastructure

A new World Bank statement has called for increased private sector investment in Africa’s under-developed electricity transmission infrastructure, a vital ingredient for reaching Africa’s energy goals.

The statement which was made available to the Ghana News Agency on Thursday by the World Bank indicated that Africa lags behind the rest of the world at the same time as it comes to electricity, with just 35 % of the people with access to power and a generation capacity of only 100 GW.

According to the statement those who do have power typically consume relatively little, face frequent outages and pay high prices.
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Key Facts: Ambassador: H.E.Mr.Daniel Owassa
Full name: Republic of the Congo
Population: 4.1 million (UN, 2011)
Area: 342,000 sq km (132,047 sq miles)
Major languages: French, indigenous African languages
Major religions: Christianity, indigenous African beliefs
Life expectancy: 57 years (men), 59 years (women) (UN)
Monetary unit: 1 CFA (Communaute Financiere Africaine) franc = 100 centimes
Main exports: Oil, timber, plywood, sugar, cocoa, coffee, diamonds
GNI per capita: US $2,150 (World Bank, 2010)
Internet domain: .cg
International dialling code: +242

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country profile Outlook for 2015-17
China/ Congo
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Climate change laws around the world
2017/05/14
There has been a 20-fold increase in the number of global climate change laws since 1997, according to the most comprehensive database of relevant policy and legislation.

The database, produced by the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and the Sabin Center on Climate Change Law, includes more than 1,200 relevant policies across 164 countries, which account for 95% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

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Congo Another major African oil exporter facing headwinds
2017/05/08
Congo

Another major African oil exporter facing headwinds

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Outlook for 2015-17
2016/05/29
The country (Republic of the Congo) is situated in Western Africa, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Angola and Gabon. It has borders with Angola for 201km, Congo (Kinshasa) for 2410km, Central African Republic for 467km, Cameroon for 523km and Gabon for 1903km. Land in Republic of the Congo is coastal plain, southern basin, central plateau, northern basin.
Congolese or Congo land covers an area of 342000 km².The climate is tropical with a rainy season (March to June) and a dry season (June to October), with persistent high temperatures and humidity; it is particularly enervating climate astride the Equator.

Congolese (singular and plural) speak French (official), Lingala and Monokutuba (lingua franca trade languages), a lot of local languages and dialects (of which Kikongo is the majority widespread).

Country Overview

The Republic of Congo is endowed with a wealth of assets that can be used to build a robust economy, improve the living standards of its people, and drive the economic increase of the sub-region.

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Relationship between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Congo
2015/10/01
Relationship between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Congo (Congo) grew closer in 2013.

The two countries enjoyed frequent political exchanges and enhanced mutual trust. In March, President Xi Jinping paid a state visit to Congo. Also in March, President of Congo Denis Sassou-N'guesso sent a letter of congratulations to President Xi Jinping on his election as President of the People's Republic of China.

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Brazzaville
2012/12/18
Brazzaville is the capital and major city of the Republic of the Congo and is located on the Congo River. As of the 2001 census, it has a people of 1,018,541 in the city proper, and about 1.5 million in total when including the suburbs located in the Pool Region.The populous city of Kinshasa (additional than 10 million inhabitants in 2009),capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, lies just across the Congo River from Brazzaville.

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