Congo's strength lies in its population, the majority of whom are young and over 80% literate, whose legendary hospitality and joie de vivre make this a welcoming country par excellence. land par excellence. Considered a "Corridor" in the heart of Central Africa, the Congo serves as Central African countries such as the Central African Republic and Chad. and Chad. It bridges the gap between the Central African region (CEMAC zone), with its population of around 30 million and the Southern African region, notably the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) which alone has a population of over 60 million, and the SADC region, as well as the Community of West African States (CEMAC). East African Community (EAC, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, etc.).

Its position gives it the status of a transit country with a deep-water port. Denis SASSOU N'GUESSO, the country's Head of State, has launched an ambitious development programme through his "Road to the Future" social project, which aims to see the country emerge by 2025. The government is committed to ensuring the conversion of an oil-based economy through the creation of competitive infrastructures within the framework of a public-private partnership (PPP), and to improving macroeconomic management for the development of non-oil activities. To this end, the priority investment programme for the Pointe Noire autonomous port, the rehabilitation of the Congo Ocean railway and the improvement of traffic on the Congo-Oubangui river are all assets.

This enables the country to play its role as a transit country. With 170 km of coastline, the autonomous port of Pointe Noire is fed by a Congo Ocean railway, a natural outlet from the Congo Basin. This deep-water port has the greatest potential in the southern Gulf of Guinea, allowing imports of manufactured goods and exports of the Congo\ 's main economic products, mainly oil and timber. Its modernisation led to the concessioning of the container terminal, with a capacity of 329,871 containers in 2011 and an estimated 531,092 in 2012 on a 30,000-hectare site. Congo has a major network of waterways, the Congo Basin, which is navigable all year round. Modernising the road network is a major development challenge for the country.

This sector opens up all the departments and, above all, links the capital Brazzaville to the autonomous port of Pointe Noire, which has become a nerve centre for economic and commercial activity. Thanks to the government's policy of accelerated municipalisation, which is being implemented on a rotating basis in all the country's departments, the road network is being fully developed, with priority given to the Brazzaville-Pointe Noire trunk road. This will help to reclaim and reappropriate the flow of goods to consumption areas. The Owando-Makoua-Ouesso road crosses an area rich in minerals (gold, diamonds, etc.) as well as forestry species and oil palms; it is the last section of the Pointe-Noire - Ouesso corridor, passing through Brazzaville, Gamboma, Oyo and Owando; by connecting to the Ketta-Sembé-Souanké-Ntam road, it will join the Cameroon network. These two routes will have the economic advantage of opening up the rich cocoa-growing area of Sangha, making it easier to exploit its natural resources.

In addition to these national roads, there are sub-regional integration routes linking the Congo to Cameroon, Gabon and Angola. The Obouya-Boundji-Okoyo-Gabon border road, for example, will link up with the Gabonese town of Lékony, the terminus of the Libreville-Franceville road. The bridge over the Loémé, on the Pointe-Noire-Ndzassi road in the department of Kouilou will facilitate trade between the trade between Congo and Angola.

A study financed by the African Development Bank (ADB) has been carried out into the construction of a road-rail bridge between the world's two closest capitals, Brazzaville and Kinshasa, to boost trade between the two countries. In its formal trade arrangements, the Republic of Congo is a member of two regional integration organisations in Central Africa, namely CEMAC, which was formed in 1994 from the ashes of the Central African Customs and Economic Union (UDEAC), which includes Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Chad, and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), which, in addition to the six CEMAC countries, also includes Angola, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sao Tomé and Principe. With its large areas of arable land, good rainfall and extensive hydrography, the Congo offers immense opportunities for agriculture and agro-industry.

In addition, because it straddles the equator, the Congo's geographical position is conducive to continuous agricultural production throughout the year. Two main basins (the Congo River basin and the Kouilou-Niari basin), each with a large number of tributaries, irrigate the territory, offering great potential for fish production. Because of Congo's large but as yet unexploited mineral reserves, the Congolese government has made the mining sector a priority in its economic diversification policy. As a result, a number of measures have been taken to remove the constraints hindering the expansion of this sector. Through its airports, the Congo is opening up to the world. In the space of a decade, eleven (11) airports have been built. The modernisation of Maya-Maya airport brings it into line with the continent's ultra-modern infrastructure. An energy boulevard is also under construction in the country, with a very high voltage line from Pointe-Noire to Brazzaville.

Region: Central Africa
Frontiers : Cameroon, RCA, RDC, Angola, Gabon
Area : 342 000 Km2/ Perimeter : 5.504 Km
Climate : equatorial/subequatorial (two rainy seasons and two dry seasons)
Average rainfall : 1700 mm
Sunshine : all year round
Average temperature: 25°C
Seafront : 170 km (Atlantic Ocean)

Population (2021): 5.6 million inhabitants, the majority young (56% under 20), with 65% concentrated in Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire (World Bank)
Density : 14.8 inhabitants/Km2
Demographic growth rate : 2.9% (World Bank)
Member of 2 regional economic communities : CEMAC and CEEAC (free trade area, approximately 174 million inhabitants)
Life expectancy (2021) : 62.9 years (World Bank)
Religions :Christianity 85.9 % ; Agnosticism and atheism : 9.0 % ; Popular religion : 2.8 % ; Islam : 1,2 % ; Other : 1,1 %.
Human Development Index (2021) : 153rd out of 189 (UNDP)
Literacy rate : 82,8%

Nominal GDP (2021) : 8101.5 billion FCFA
GDP/inhabitant : FCFA 1.447 million (WB)
GDP growth rate (2021) :0.2% (WB)
Inflation rate (2021) : 2.0% (WB)
Trade balance (2021) : 1248.9 billion FCFA
Exporting: 2849.9 billion FCFA
Importing: 1,601.0 billion FCFA
Main customers (Q1-2022): China (40.4%), India (22.3%), Brazil (16.0%), Togo (7.7%) and the United States (2.8%).
Main suppliers (Q1-2022): China (28.2%), France (7.6%), United States (7.3%), India (4.9%) and Argentina (4.6%).
Oil production (2019):339,000 barrels / day (IMF)

Independence : August 15th 1960
Administrative capital : Brazzaville
Spoken language : French (official language), Lingala and Munukuba (local languages)
Currency : Franc CFA (XAF), 1 euro = 655 957
Economic liberalism
AGOA-eligible countries
Phone code : +242
Type of political system : semi-presidential