AfDB Executive Directors' Consultation Mission to Congo-Brazzaville Ends
Mbuyamu Ilankir Matungulu visits the Road-Rail Bridge site in Maloukou and the International Conference Centre in Kintele
25 Mar, 2022
On Friday, March 25, 2022, the last day of its consultation mission to Congo-Brazzaville, the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group Executive Directors' delegation visited the Maloukou Tréchot Special Economic Zone (SEZ), where the road-rail bridge that will link it to Kinshasa (DRC) will be built, as well as the Kintele International Conference Centre, where the AfDB Annual Meetings will be held in May 2026. At the end of this consultation mission, the head of delegation, Mbuyamu Ilankir Matungulu, spoke to the press about the visit.
You are at the end of your consultation mission. What can we learn from your visit to Maloukou and Kintélé?
All is well that ends well! We arrived in Congo on Sunday 20 March. Today, 25 March, our mission is ended. For a week, we went to see a number of things on the ground, in relation to what the African Development Bank is doing here in Congo.
We are happy, of course, that we had the opportunity, on the last day, to visit the Special Economic Zone of Maloukou (65 km from Brazzaville), and the International Conference Centre of Kintélé (25 km from the capital), after the very fruitful meeting we had in the morning with His Excellency the President of the Republic, Denis Sassou-N'Guesso.
The Maloukou Special Economic Zone comprises 16 factories, 4 of which are operational. So there are still many things to do. But Maloukou is also the starting point for the Road-Rail Bridge project, which will link the right bank of the Congo River in Brazzaville and the left bank in Kinshasa. The project supported by the AfDB. The Bank has already authorized the disbursement of funds needed to build the access roads to this bridge, both in the Republic of Congo and in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We wanted to see, in person, exactly where this bridge will start from the Republic of Congo. We are satisfied with the information we received.
As for the Kintele International Conference Centre, you should know that the Republic of Congo will host the AfDB Annual Meetings in 2026. Most of the discussions will take place in this center which is modern and has the capacity to receive all the delegations that will come from abroad to reflect on the functioning of the AfDB and the prospects of this great continental development finance institution.
What is the purpose of consultation missions?
A consultation mission is an opportunity for Executive Directors to make final decisions on issues that concern all African countries that go through the African Development Bank. It is also an opportunity for Executive Directors to get a feel for the realities of the countries concerned so that we can improve the information we have on these different countries. In addition to getting a feel for the realities, with field visits such as the one we have just made this afternoon, the main point of these consultation missions concerns the contacts we make with the authorities of each country, who are in charge of conducting the economic and social policies of their States, and who are making efforts to improve the living conditions of the populations. We come, as the AfDB, to accompany them in these efforts. And, when there are files that are prepared for consideration by the Bank's Board of Directors, these files reach the Executive Directors.
The consultation missions are also an opportunity for us to improve and strengthen our knowledge of the countries, so that we can make an informed decision on the files presented to us.
I am happy to inform you, as the Executive Director representing, for the time being, Central Africa (to which Congo-Brazzaville belongs) on the AfDB Board of Directors, that, for the 2022 fiscal year, two countries have been chosen to receive these consultation missions: Congo-Brazzaville and Nigeria.
