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Congo Republic
by Paul Bacsich
The Congo Republic, officially the Republic of the Congo (French: République du Congo; Kongo: Repubilika ya Kongo; Lingala: Republiki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, Little Congo, or simply the Congo, is a country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly known as Zaire), the Angolan exclave province of Cabinda, and the Gulf of Guinea.
The region was dominated by Bantu tribes, who built trade links leading into the Congo River basin. The republic is a former French colony. Upon independence in 1960, the former French region of Middle Congo became the Republic of the Congo.
The population is 3.6 million.
The capital is Brazzaville.
The Republic of the Congo is divided into 12 départements (départements). Departments are divided into communes and/or districts.
The economy is a mixture of village agriculture and handicrafts, an industrial sector based largely on petroleum, support services, and a government (not the only one in th world) characterized by budget problems and overstaffing. Petroleum extraction has supplanted forestry as the mainstay of the economy. In 2008, the oil sector accounted for 65% of the GDP, 85% of government revenue, and 92% of exports.
The sparse population is concentrated in the southwestern portion of the country, leaving the vast areas of tropical jungle in the north virtually uninhabited. Thus, Congo is one of the most urbanized countries in Africa, with 70% of its total population living in a few urban areas, namely in Brazzaville, Pointe-Noire, or one of the small cities or villages lining the 332-mile (534 km) railway which connects the two cities. In rural areas, industrial and commercial activity has declined rapidly in recent years, leaving rural economies dependent on the government for support and subsistence.
Ethnically and linguistically the population is diverse - said to be 62 spoken languages in the country - but can be grouped into three categories. The Kongo are the largest ethnic group and form roughly half of the population. The most significant subgroups of the Kongo are Laari in Brazzaville and Pool regions and Vili around Pointe-Noire and along the Atlantic coast. The second largest group are the Teke who live to the north of Brazzaville with 17% of the population. Boulangui (M’Boshi) live in northwest and in Brazzaville and form 12% of the population.
As regards religion, people are largely a mix of Christians and Animists, accounting for 50% and 48% of the population, respectively. The majority of Christians in the country are Catholic, amounting to 90%, while the remaining 10% comprises various other Christian denominations. Two percent follow Islam and this is primarily due to an influx of foreign workers into the urban centres.
French is the official language and the language of the élite. Lingala and Kituba (national languages) are linguae francae among common people). There are many local languages and dialects (of which Kikongo is the most widespread).
The majority of the population is concentrated along the railroad between Pointe-Noire and Brazzaville in the south where Kituba (a creole language based on Kikongo) is the primary language. Lingala is influential in the sparsely inhabited northern half of the country.
Education
(mainly sourced from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_the_Republic_of_the_Congo)
Public education is compulsory and in theory free for under-16s. In practice, parents have to pay additional charges.
Literacy is high, particularly among men. According to the 2005 UNDP report, 82.8% of Congolese are literate
Net primary enrolment rate was 44 % in 2005, much less than the 79 % in 1991. [49] The country has universities.
12.6% of the Congolese budget is spent on education; 40% on primary education, 31% on secondary level, and 27% on tertiary level. Only 1% goes to pre-primary education.
For more details of the schools system see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_the_Republic_of_the_Congo
Higher Education
General considerations for a country of this population and GNP suggest that there should be around five universities.
In fact there seems to be only one, Marien Ngouabi University (French: Université Marien Ngouabi). Most Congolese who are qualified to go to university attend this one, once they have got their Higher Certificate, although it is not the only option. It is the only state-funded university in the Republic of Congo, and is located in the capital, Brazzaville. It was founded as the University of Brazzaville in late 1971 amidst desires to assert the country's sovereignty. Following the assassination of President Marien Ngouabi in March 1977, the university was renamed in his honour later that year.
In September 1990, a law authorized the private sector to operate educational institutions. These now provide mainly technical and professional training. Private institutions function according to their own norms and standards, and deliver their own specific degrees as well.
There are four such institutions:
- Free University of Congo (Université Libre du Congo, ULC) - fragmentary information (but no university web site) at http://fr.excelafrica.com/showthread.php?t=463
- the Paradox Institute - but there are no relevant web hits in the last year
- the Business Administration Institute (Institut de Gestion d’Entreprises) - no nontrivial web hits in the last year
- the Advanced School for Business Management and Administration (Ecole Supérieur de Gestion et Administration des Enterprises) - comprehensive web site at http://www.esgae.org
Other tertiary-level institutions seemingly include:
- Christian Polytechnic and Professional Institute of Arts
- Institute of Business and Economical Development
- Mondongo Higher Institute of Agricultural Sciences
Ecole Supérieur de Gestion et Administration des Enterprises
In contrast to most other institutions in this country, the Ecole has a long description in English - as a result of its having been nominated for an award by eduniversal.com. Some key points from the Dean's message (at http://www.eduniversal.com/business-school/dean-word/ecole-superieure-de-gestion-et-d-administration-des-entreprises-esgae/8) are:
In June 2008, ESGAE celebrated its 15th anniversary.
Being admitted to ESGAE means access to comprehensive training and performance.
Of structures that promote quality of student life as best as the meeting point with a service quality, a library, a room broadband Internet, modern rooms, an association of students and alumni, a mutual personnel school outings and other activities of any kind ...
The ESGAE has graduated from the official selection in 2008 of the 1000 best universities and schools in the world EDUNIVERSAL (http://www.eduniversal.com).
The ESGAE is in partnership with the Network of IUT de Normandie (Alencon, Caen, Cherbourg, Evreux, Le Havre, Rouen) since 3 July 2008; The ESGAE Convention is in agreement with the University of Caen (France) since 27 August 2001.
The ESGAE signed a cooperation agreement with the Polytechnic of Normandy (France) in November 2006.
The ESGAE is an associate member of the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF) since 17 December 2006.
e-learning and ICT
The report #2 below notes:
- According to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), only Congo-Brazzaville currently has a real policy in terms of Information and Computer Technology (ICT), coordinated by the Committee for the Promotion of Information Technologies in Congo (COPTIC).
- The 1997 law abolished the monopoly of the National Office of Telecommunications (ONPT), beginning an era of liberalization of the telecommunication sector. The National Plan for Information and Communication Infrastructure (NICI) has not yet been completed but it states the national priorities concerning telecommunications and develops an institutional framework for the public policies in the subject. The statutory context is evolving towards the privatization of SOTELCO, the Congolese Office of Post and Telecommunications (OPT).
References
- Country report on Congo (Brazzaville), Gaspard Mbemba, CIHE, http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/soe/cihe/inhea/profiles/Congo_Brazzaville.htm
- Congo-Braazzaville, http://congo-brazzaville.org/education
For OER policies and projects in Congo Republic see Congo Republic/OER