On Wednesday, June 25, 2025, in Brazzaville, the National Assembly adopted, in plenary session, two bills proposed by the Government, represented by Minister of Finance, Budget, and Public Portfolio Christian Yoka.

The first text adopted by the parliamentarians of the Lower House is the Bill Authorizing the Ratification of the Loan Agreement for the Third Financing in Support of Development Policies for Budget Management and Inclusive Growth, signed between the Republic of Congo and the International Development Association (IDA)-World Bank Group (WB).

Indeed, under this Agreement, Congo benefited from budget support from the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2022 and 2023. The implementation of structural reforms financed by the first two tranches of this budget support has enabled significant progress in several areas.

However, other reforms require more time and resources for their implementation. This is why Congo negotiated and obtained from the World Bank Group a third tranche of financing to support development policies for budget management and inclusive growth, in the form of budget support, for a total amount of €70.6 million (approximately CFA francs 46.3 billion), through two windows: the IBRD window and the IDA window.

The IBRD (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development) - World Bank Group window represents an amount of €16,700,000 (or CFA francs 10,950,000).

The IDA - World Bank Group window represents an amount of €41,600,000 (or approximately CFA francs 27,200,000) under Credit A, and another €12,300,000 (or approximately CFA francs 8 billion) under Credit B.

This loan agreement is a facility granted in the form of an IBRD loan, repayable in euros, over a maximum term of 35 years, including a 5-year grace period.

This financing will help improve budget management to reduce macroeconomic imbalances and ensure sustainable and inclusive growth, within the framework of two pillars.

The first pillar focuses on strengthening revenue mobilization and public financial management. The second focuses on improving the conditions for inclusive and sustainable growth.

The second text adopted by the parliamentarians of the Lower House is the Bill authorizing the ratification of the Financing Contract and the Grant Agreement relating to the Congo Digital Transformation Acceleration Project (PATN), signed between the Republic of Congo and the European Investment Bank (EIB).

In this regard, the Republic of Congo has undertaken to modernize its telecommunications sector by initiating projects in the field of New Information and Communication Technologies (NICT). To achieve this objective, the Government has tasked the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications, and the Digital Economy with defining and implementing a digital investment program aimed at achieving a digital transformation in Congo.

As part of this program, Congo has entered into financing agreements with Technical and Financial Partners (TFPs) for a total amount of €140.4 million (i.e., 92 billion 96 million 362,800 CFA francs) to implement the Congo Digital Transformation Acceleration Project (PATN).

This project is co-financed by the World Bank and the EIB. As a reminder, the law ratifying the financing agreement with the World Bank had already been passed by Parliament. Thus, this Bill only concerns the portion of the financing provided by the European Investment Bank (EIB). Indeed, the PATN benefits from European financing (EIB and European Union) of €40.4 million (i.e., 26 billion 500 million 662,800 CFA francs), which consists of the following: an EIB loan of €26 million (17 billion 54 million 856,711 CFA francs); an investment grant of €10.3 million (6 billion 756 million 357,100 CFA francs); and technical assistance of €4.1 million (2 billion 689 million 423,700 CFA francs) from European Union (EU) funds managed by the EIB to support the implementation of the project. The cooperation agreement for technical assistance relating to consultancy services in support of the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and the Digital Economy was signed on September 2, 2024. The repayment term of the €26 million EIB loan is 25 years, including a five-year grace period.

The PATN in brief

The PATN aims to strengthen the enabling environment for the acceleration of digital technology in Congo. As such, it includes a wide range of initiatives aimed at strengthening the Republic of Congo's e-governance, cybersecurity, and personal data protection frameworks, in accordance with European and international best practices, as well as building the digital capabilities of the population in general, and IT professionals in the public and private sectors in particular.

The overall project will also include the development and implementation of human-centered digital services, particularly related to education, health, and civil status/electronic identity, as well as digital inclusion, enabled by the expansion of digital connectivity.

The project is structured around two pillars. The first pillar, relating to strengthening the enabling environment for digital acceleration, consists of eight components. The second pillar, dedicated to improving the delivery of and access to human-centered digital services, consists of four components.

The PATN will also fund the Project Management Unit (PMU). The implementation of the National Transition Plan (NTP) covers the calendar years 2023 to 2028.

It should be noted that on the same day, the Senate adopted a single bill in plenary session, namely the Bill Authorizing the Ratification of the Loan Agreement for the Third Financing in Support of Development Policies for Budget Management and Inclusive Growth. This was the only item on the agenda for this plenary session.

The Communication Unit of the Ministry of Finance, Budget and Public Portfolio