• DRC to train 100,000 youth, women for green jobs by 2030
• Plan covers 84 eco-friendly occupations across 11 sectors
• Legal framework aims to align employment with climate goals
  

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has pledged to train 100,000 young people and women over the next five years for green jobs. The initiative forms the core of the National Green Jobs Development Plan (PNDEV), a program aimed at developing skills to meet the challenges of climate change.

The plan was officially endorsed during a workshop held in Kinshasa from October 21 to 28, alongside the National Register of Green Occupations. An inter-ministerial decree signed at the event gave both documents legal force.

Green jobs encompass activities that contribute to protecting and restoring the environment. The DRC has identified 84 such occupations, grouped into 11 professional categories covering fields such as sustainable agriculture, forest management, renewable energy, waste recycling, water management, and green hydrogen production.

The PNDEV, not yet publicly released, is described by officials as a key tool to align the country’s economic transformation with efforts to tackle both unemployment and climate change. In addition to training 100,000 young people and women, the plan includes purchasing training equipment, rehabilitating centers run by the National Institute for Professional Preparation (INPP), training instructors, and establishing a Green Jobs Observatory and an Information Hub.

Employment and Labor Minister Ferdinand Massamba wa Massamba hailed the approval as a “historic step” toward structuring the DRC’s labor market. He said the country now has a legal framework to align skills supply and demand in the green jobs sector, a sign, he added, of the government’s intent to align employment policy with the ecological transition.

Environment Minister Marie Nyange Ndambo said the new framework strengthens the DRC’s position in global climate talks linked to its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). “By leveraging our natural resources through training and employment, we demonstrate that the DRC is not only the lung of the world but also a driving force in the ecological transition,” she said.

Prime Minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka urged ministries to integrate the green-jobs dimension into their sectoral programs. “The DRC wants to transition from being an ecological reservoir to becoming a global hub for green jobs,” she said, stressing the need to turn commitments into tangible results.

Boaz Kabeya, Bankable

• Djibouti, Uzbekistan agree to boost ties in education, research
• Deal includes exchanges, joint programs, and 10 student scholarships
• Partnership supports Djibouti’s STEM focus, youth employment goals
  

Djibouti and Uzbekistan discussed ways to strengthen cooperation in higher and vocational education, as well as in science and innovation. The meeting took place on November 1 in Samarkand, on the sidelines of the 43rd session of the UNESCO General Conference, between Uzbekistan’s Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Qong‘irotboy Sharipov, and Djibouti’s Education Minister, Mohamed Mahmoud Mustafa.

According to Uzbekistan’s higher education ministry, the discussions focused on launching joint programs involving student and faculty exchanges, collaborative research, and the adoption of advanced international standards in technical training. The two ministers also agreed to link universities and vocational centers in both countries and to formalize these projects through a long-term cooperation framework.

As an initial step, Uzbekistan will award ten scholarships to students from Djibouti to pursue studies at Uzbek universities and technical institutes in engineering, medicine, information technology, and artificial intelligence. Minister Mustafa described the initiative as “a strategic step toward deepening educational and professional ties between the two countries.”

For Djibouti, the partnership marks an important step toward diversifying technical training and improving youth employability in high-growth sectors. This focus is timely: fewer than 2% of African students under 18 complete school with basic STEM skills, according to a June brief by the UN Office of the Special Adviser on Africa. A 2024 UNESCO report likewise urged African governments to expand STEM education to unlock the continent’s innovation potential.

The agreement comes amid Djibouti’s ongoing education reforms. In July 2025, the country secured a $2.97 million World Bank grant to improve access to schooling and services for young people, particularly those with disabilities, highlighting the central role of human capital in Djibouti’s long-term development strategy.

Félicien Houindo Lokossou

Over the past year, oil suppliers active in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) recorded losses and shortfalls of $31.5 million, down from $288.6 million in 2023 (-89%). Daniel Mukoko Samba, Minister of the National Economy, disclosed the figures on May 6, 2025. This gap is bridged by subsidies.

Without providing specific figures, Calixte Ahokpossi, mission chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), confirmed Samba’s report: “We found that losses and revenue shortfalls have decreased significantly.” Earlier this month, the IMF began the first review of its new program with the DRC.

This sharp decline contrasts with the IMF’s January 2025 report, which estimated deficits of $77 million for the first half of 2024-more than double the annual total now announced by Daniel Mukoko Samba. According to the latest certified figures, shortfalls amounted to $16 million in the first half and $15.52 million in the second half of 2024.

While Congolese authorities have not explained this discrepancy yet, the IMF report notes that the government has pledged “to strengthen transparency in the calculation and certification of losses and shortfalls due to oil companies, by improving the operational capacities of the Strategic Products Price Regulation Committee, set up in February 2023, and by involving all the ministries concerned”. This suggests earlier assessments may have been inaccurate.

Planned improvements include revising methods for calculating revenue losses, rigorously monitoring key parameters influencing petroleum product pricing, and ending the cumulative remuneration of oil logistics companies in the tariff structure by eliminating the mutualization of their operating costs.

Roadmap

These measures are part of a roadmap adopted in November 2023, following a May 2023 audit on the price structure and an IMF technical assistance mission in July 2023. In September 2024, the government launched molecular tagging in the eastern zone to prevent subsidized fuel diversion to ineligible uses. The decision to exclude the mining sector from diesel subsidies in the southern zone also aligns with this reform effort.

The IMF’s July 2024 report acknowledged that the roadmap helped “contain the accumulation of liabilities to oil companies, which were reduced from $545 million to $122 million in 2023.” The institution encourages continued efforts to reduce revenue shortfalls. However, subsidies could rise again in 2025 due to a 13% drop in pump prices, which has increased domestic consumption of finished petroleum products to nearly 50%.

This article was initially published in French by Pierre Mukoko and Boaz Kabeya (intern)

Edited in English by Ola Schad Akinocho

Africa Global Logistics (AGL) announced an investment of CFA4 billion to expand its logistics hub in Kribi, Cameroon. The goal is to keep pace with rising container traffic at the city’s deep-sea port.

Officially opened on June 8, 2022, the Kribi Logistics Hub is now entering its second phase of development. This new stage, expected to wrap up by the end of July 2025, includes 10,000 square meters of new paved yard space and a brand-new 3,000-square-meter warehouse. The extension alone carries a price tag of about CFA3 billion.

AGL Cameroon’s managing director, Thibaut Lamé, shared these updates on May 8, 2025, during a ceremony to mark the commissioning of 10 new container trucks. These vehicles, worth about CFA1 billion, are part of the total CFA4 billion investment package and are meant to meet the growing logistics demand triggered by the launch of Kribi Port’s second container terminal.

The expansion of the Kribi Logistics Hub aligns with the increase in port activity tied to the new terminal. Operated by Kribi Conteneurs Terminal (KCT), a company in which AGL is a key shareholder, the second terminal is set to significantly boost capacity. According to port officials, Kribi’s container handling capacity is expected to jump from 300,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) per year to nearly one million TEUs.

To help manage that growth, AGL is paving another 10,000 square meters of yard space in this second phase. That is on top of the 7,700 square meters already completed in the first phase. A third round of expansion is already planned for 2026, which will add similar surface area and bring the total container yard to 2.7 hectares.

The third phase will also include 9,000 square meters of new warehouses. These will be added to the 3,000 square meters under construction now and the 6,000 square meters built during phase one. According to Thibaut Lamé, the new warehouse space will allow AGL to handle a wider range of goods, including rubber and sawn wood, in addition to processed cotton and cocoa, which the Kribi hub began with.

On May 8, 2025, the Ministry of Transport, Communication Routes and Opening-up issued an official letter listing 240 unapproved river and lake ports slated for immediate closure. The document, referenced N° VPM/MTVCD/CAB/563/2025 and signed by Deputy Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Bemba, was addressed to the Ministry of the Interior, Security, Decentralization, and Customary Affairs.

The measure aligns with resolutions from the 46ᵉ and 52ᵉ meetings of the Council of Ministers held on August 28 and October 9, 2020, respectively, focusing on regulating the river sector. It also follows Ministerial Letter No. VPM/MTVCD/CAB/458/2024 dated October 15, 2024, concerning the closure of so-called "illegal" ports.

The listed sites span multiple provinces, with the document specifying the names, locations, and in some cases, the owners of the affected infrastructures.

At the 17ᵉ ordinary Council of Ministers meeting on October 11, 2024, President Félix Tshisekedi instructed the government to enhance safety in river and lake navigation after a shipwreck on Lake Kivu. He emphasized combating clandestine ports, supervising boat construction, and strengthening regular technical monitoring by Ministry of Transport experts.

Following this directive, the Ministry had already initiated an operation to close unauthorized ports in response to a series of incidents on the waterways.

Boaz Kabeya (intern)

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), state-owned Lignes Maritimes Congolaises (LMC) is about to add two vessels to its fleet, according to its Board Chairman Lambert Mende Omalanga. The executive announced the move on May 6 in Matadi, after meeting with Kongo Central Governor Grâce Bilolo. 

“I have come to announce to the governor of Kongo Central province, Grâce Bilolo, that we are about to acquire two floating units to improve working conditions for our provincial management,” Omalanga said.

Mende, a former Communications Minister, emphasized that the two ships have been ordered from shipyards in Rotterdam, Netherlands, as part of LMC’s five-year recovery plan (2023–2027). Under the latter, the firm should buy five new vessels and second-hand multipurpose ships, using state funds. 

The five-year plan aims to bolster the state-owned company’s fleet and increase its share of Congolese foreign trade shipping from 0.3% in 2021 to 2% by 2027. This would represent a growth in transported volume from 45,000 tonnes to 395,195 tonnes.

To support this expansion, LMC also plans to develop dry ports in Matadi, Boma, Lufu, and Kinshasa, reinforce storage facilities in Dar es Salaam, and build a dry port in Kolwezi (Lualaba). The company intends to acquire containers to optimize the logistics chain and improve trade flow.

LMC used to have 10 sea-going vessels, but its whole fleet was liquidated two decades ago. The public shipowner was created in 1974 to handle the international maritime transport of Congolese goods.

Lambert Mende also noted that the government has instructed LMC to collect shipping royalties, a measure intended to compensate the company for past losses.

This article was initially published in French by Ronsard Luabeya (intern)

Edited in English by Ola Schad Akinocho

Indian electric motorbike maker Spiro is entering the Cameroonian market. The company wants to promote electric mobility and support local industrial development, according to a May 10 announcement by CEO Kaushik Burman.

Spiro’s plan aligns with Cameroon’s goal of developing a local automotive industry. Under the 2025 finance law, electric vehicles are now exempt from the 12.5% excise tax. In addition, new electric motorbikes, batteries, and charging stations will benefit from a 50% reduction on their taxable value for a 24-month period.

The project will begin in July 2025 with the deployment of 100 electric motorbikes in Douala. Spiro will also set up a network of battery swap stations, with one station every 3 kilometers. The goal is to ease concerns about battery range and reduce operating costs. According to Rahul Gaur, Spiro’s General Manager for West Africa and Cameroon, “users will spend only CFA1,500 to cover 100 kilometers, which is cheaper than fuel-powered bikes.”

In Phase 2, Spiro plans to build a motorbike assembly plant in Cameroon. This facility will help meet user demand and ensure a smooth rollout of services.

The project is expected to create hundreds of direct and indirect jobs. On average, each battery swap station will employ about 3.5 people. Additional jobs will be created at the assembly plant and at future maintenance centers, where local engineers and technicians will be hired to encourage technology transfer.

Spiro’s expansion into Cameroon is part of a broader strategy backed by a CFA29.1 billion loan from Afreximbank, based on an agreement signed on May 17, 2024. The funding will support the development of an automated battery swap network and the rollout of new electric bike models, aimed at making clean mobility more affordable and practical.

The company is already active in Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda. With its entry into Cameroon, Spiro is expanding its presence in the CEMAC zone. Founded in 2019, the company reports more than 3 million electric bikes in operation across Africa, with a total of over 341 million kilometers covered.

Cameroon is also seeing local efforts in this space. The start-up Bee plans to invest CFA610 million to introduce Tembo electric motorbikes.

Cameroon officially launched the second container terminal at the Kribi deep-sea port on May 9. The new terminal was inaugurated during a ceremony led by Transport Minister Jean Ernest Ngallé Bibéhé Massena.

According to Patrice Melom, head of the Port Authority of Kribi (PAK), the expansion has allowed the port to triple its handling capacity in just seven years.

When the first terminal opened in March 2018, it could process about 300,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) per year. The second terminal now adds a 715-meter-long quay, twice the length of the first, as well as a 30-hectare operational yard, five quay cranes (each with a 65-ton lifting capacity), 15 yard cranes, 25 tractors, and 30 trailers. With this upgrade, the port can now handle more than 1 million TEUs per year.

The new terminal’s modern infrastructure also allows Cameroon to welcome ultra-large vessels. On May 8, the MSC Turkiye, the world’s largest container ship, docked at Kribi. “Kribi is now one of only five ports in sub-Saharan Africa able to host ships of this size,” said Philippe Labonne, president of Africa Global Logistics (AGL).

AGL is the main shareholder in Kribi Conteneurs Terminal (KCT), the Cameroonian company that operates both container terminals. AGL was created after Bolloré Group sold its African transport and logistics assets. KCT is a joint venture that includes French shipping firm CMA CGM and Chinese company China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), which also built the port itself.

The second phase of Kribi’s development not only added the second terminal and yard space, but also extended the port’s protective breakwater by 675 meters. The entire second phase, launched in 2019, cost 400 billion CFA francs. Eximbank of China financed 75% of that through a loan.

The port’s third phase is already in the works. It will include a mineral terminal and a hydrocarbons terminal, with construction scheduled to start in 2027 and 2028 respectively.

According to PAK’s director general, these new facilities will support the export of strategic mineral resources from Cameroon and the wider sub-region, as well as national energy ambitions.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) parliamentarians met in Lomé from May 6 to 9, 2025. They adopted recommendations to lower air ticket prices across West Africa. They urged governments to scrap several taxes starting January 1, 2026, to cut air travel costs.

At the session’s close in Lomé, lawmakers demanded the removal of four taxes: ticket tax, tourism tax, solidarity tax, and foreign travel tax. They also pushed for a 25% cut in passenger service and airport security charges.

Fanta Conté, co-president of the presidium, declared, “It is imperative to act to make air transport accessible and competitive.” 

The parliamentarians aim for a deep reform of air transport taxation. They proposed a regulatory framework to cap taxes and fees, create a regional fund to support airlines, and establish a single West African airspace. This airspace would pool infrastructure and lower operating costs.

The meeting’s data showed ECOWAS taxes and fees are 103% higher than other regions. Security costs exceed global averages by 70%, and government taxes by 47.4%. These surcharges push ticket prices up by 20% on domestic flights, 48.6% on regional routes, and 36.5% on international flights.

Mamadou Sako, co-chairman of ECOWAS Parliament’s joint infrastructure committee, called the issue political. “The facts are in, and the solutions have been identified. What is needed now is a firm and collective will to turn this corner and strengthen regional integration,” Sako said.

The parliamentarians also pleaded for the establishment of a monitoring committee to ensure these measures follow the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards.

This article was initially published in French by Esaïe Edoh

Edited in English by Ola Schad Akinocho

A marketing expert by trade, he leverages his skills to support businesses. With a passion for both music and technology, he also developed a platform designed to give artists international visibility.

Congolese marketing specialist and renowned trainer, Gracy Omokoso (photo) is the Chairman and CEO of Streameex, a streaming platform dedicated to live broadcasting of concerts and events in Africa.

Launched in 2021, Streameex aims to bring African artists closer to their audiences through a high-quality streaming experience. The platform also provides event organizers with powerful tools to achieve their goals, enhance their impact, and offer the public unforgettable moments.

Streameex is an initiative of Go Freelance, a communication and digital marketing consulting agency co-founded by Gracy Omokoso. This platform was born from the desire to allow artists to showcase their art on a global scale while offering music lovers an immersive and engaging experience.

Gracy Omokoso graduated from the National Pedagogical University of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where he earned a bachelor's degree in marketing in 2015. That same year, he began his professional career at AG Partners, a communication agency, as an advertising manager and digital officer. From 2021 to 2024, he worked as a digital marketing coach at Kadea Academy. Since 2024, he has been working as an independent consultant in this field.

By Melchior Koba,

Editing by Sèna D. B. de Sodji