Interview with Honoré Sayi, Minister of Transport, Civil Aviation and Merchant Navy since September 27, 2022. He was previously appointed Minister of Energy and Hydraulics in May 2021.
What are the main areas of your 2024-2028 roadmap?
The main axes of our 2024-2028 roadmap are part of the materialization of the vision of the President of the Republic, Head of State, His Excellency Mr. Denis Sassou Nguesso, through his social project "Together let's continue the march" and are of course in symbiosis with the PND 2022-2026.
For the road transport subsector, we are redesigning and digitizing administrative procedures. This will particularly involve redesigning and classifying driving licenses into two types: the one for individuals and the professional license granted to drivers of passenger and heavy goods vehicles.
In the rail transport sub-sector, we are carrying out the rehabilitation of the track, engineering structures and station buildings across the entire Congolese rail network; repairing the long tunnel; strengthening rolling stock; building a rolling stock maintenance workshop in Brazzaville; and reopening railway training schools.
Regarding maritime transport, our main goal is the development of seaports and port quays. We are building a mineral port and continuing the redefinition and development of the national armament company SOCOTRAM. At the same time, we are creating an international register of commercial and fishing vessels to make Congo a flag state and are working to protect maritime areas against all forms of pollution, piracy, and maritime crime.
Finally, in the air transport sub-sector, an airport village will be created with international standard facilities and we are proceeding with the commissioning of secondary airports, products of the various accelerated municipalizations. This is accompanied by the revival of the activities of the Ecair company and the Société Nouvelle Air Congo; the creation of terminals intended for flights at the request of specific customers; the completion of the certification process for international airports. We hope for the opening to air transport companies capable of ensuring our vocation as a sub-regional hub.
With its geostrategic location and international airports, Congo occupies a key position in Central Africa. Do you want to make it an international hub?
In aviation, a hub refers to a platform or airport chosen by an airline to handle a significant portion of its passengers and cargo. It is often used to connect segments of a local network.
Congo has an ICAO-certified international airport, the Maya-Maya Airport in Brazzaville, whose certificate was issued on July 21, 2023, and published in the Congolese aeronautical information on August 7, 2023, with modern and futuristic aeronautical pavements, equipment and terminal facilities, not to mention the presence around the airport of a significant number of very good value hotels, capable of accommodating a maximum number of transit passengers. Congo can well set up an international hub that will not suffer from any malfunctions, especially when we know that since 2014, the Government of the Republic of Congo has been making major investments relating to the implementation of air cover and security measures, the open sky policy and above all the clearly stated desire of the Head of State to make Brazzaville a hub of the sub-region.
The government is currently implementing a major project to build aircraft maintenance facilities at Brazzaville's Maya-Maya Airport. Airlines interested in this activity can concentrate and then dispatch their flights in a hub-and-spoke format to offer the maximum possible travel combinations and better fill their largest aircraft.
Brazzaville is currently connected to several cities: Paris, Libreville, Yaoundé, Lomé, Kinshasa, Luanda, Douala, Cotonou, Abidjan, Bamako, Dakar, and Dubai. It is clear that the hub in Brazzaville will become a reality.
We have significant populations from West Africa based in Brazzaville, but also in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We can facilitate the movement of these people between the two Congos and their countries of origin by using the Brazzaville hub.
What challenges do rail transport face?
The Congo-Ocean Railway (CFCO) is the sole operator of the Congolese railway. The CFCO is one of the first railways built in Africa. It comprises three sections with a metric gauge of 1,067 m and an axle weight of 17 tonnes.
The 510 km long line linking Pointe-Noire to Brazzaville, built between 1924 and 1934, has steep gradients and tight curves, particularly in the Mayombe area. The new route in this same area, called the CFCO realignment, built between 1976 and 1985, is 91 km long. The Mont-Bélo/Mbinda section on the border with Gabon, built between 1959 and 1962, is intended to transport manganese ore from Gabon to the port of Pointe-Noire. After COMILOG ceased operating this last line in September 1991, it was handed over to the Congo-Océan Railway (CFCO) in 1993.
The Congolese rail network is in a state of disrepair as a whole. Due to the dilapidated condition of the track, the average speed of trains has increased from 15 to 25 km/h, compared to the original 55 to 75 km. This situation has significantly reduced its transport capacity, which is currently around 0.7 million tonnes of goods, compared to a projected 2.5 million. The mainline locomotive fleet consists of 43 units. The current average monthly availability is 9 locomotives, while the optimal requirements for a good supply to meet current demand are around 26 mainline locomotives and at least 8 shunting locomotives. The commercial and service wagon fleet is also experiencing a high degree of obsolescence. There are 893 in the fleet as of May 30, 2023, of which only 356 are in service.
The main challenges to be addressed are to undertake the modernisation and strengthening of the railway network through partnerships with private operators and to reinstate practical rules for the upkeep and maintenance of the track and rolling stock.
The current state of disrepair of the entire Congolese rail network requires significant investment for its rehabilitation. Recent studies have estimated investment needs at around 350 billion CFA francs. The rehabilitation of the Mont-Bélo/Mbinda line alone, in all its components, is estimated at 260 billion CFA francs.
However, the main line of the Congo-Ocean railway is an essential link in the transport of goods (containerized products, flour, rice and cement, fuels and gas, various basic necessities, logs and sawn timber, etc.) between the seaport of Pointe-Noire and the river port of Brazzaville. Its capacity allows it to handle nearly 15% of traffic departing from and arriving at the Port of Pointe-Noire, or approximately 2,484,000 tonnes. This traffic volume can be optimized and increased if the railway is rehabilitated. The ex-Comilog line remains the main means of transporting iron ore from the Mayoko area in the Niari Department to the port of Pointe-Noire. More than 6 million tonnes of ore per year are projected to be evacuated by rail.
The financing to be carried out for the modernization of the Congolese rail network can be carried out within the framework of a public service delegation contract or a public-private partnership (PPP) or even a BOOT (Build, Own, Operate & Transfer).
Does the development of transport in all its modes require the arrival of new private investors?
Transport development, as a whole, is primarily a matter of public policy. While transport was one of the pillars of the 2018-2022 National Development Plan (NDP), for 2022-2026, transport is a support for the implementation of the other pillars. However, in achieving the objectives of the NDP, which includes transport development, the Government, due to the heavy investments required, cannot claim to operate alone; it will always need the support of private operators, both Congolese and foreign.
Such a perspective will be based on the organization of a Public-Private Partnership by encouraging Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) with the support of the Ministry in charge of International Cooperation and Public-Private Partnership. Similarly, it is necessary to establish project financing mechanisms, in particular by strengthening cooperation ties with investment and development banks at the regional and international levels. The project to create the Regional Maritime Development Bank is an illustration of this.
Is the development of maritime transport also a challenge for the Congo?
The maritime transport and merchant navy sub-sector remains one of the important links in the national economy which will have to meet the Government's expectations in terms of diversification of the national economy.
The Government of the Republic of Congo has undertaken to put in place mechanisms aimed at making maritime transport a promising, attractive, competitive sector that respects international maritime law through ocean governance in the service of the development of the maritime economy, in particular, and the national economy, in general.
The focus will be on the development of the autonomous port of Pointe-Noire (PAPN), which constitutes an essential platform for maritime transport, the maritime and port logistics chain, as well as maritime trade.
In order to enhance the vocation of a transit country through its suitable geographical positioning with regard to the maritime routes serving the Central African sub-region, we want the port to be connected to other modes of transport.
We are committed to preserving and protecting the marine environment against all forms of marine pollution. Sustainable management of marine resources can ensure the development of marine-related economic activities to reduce poverty and improve people's living standards.
You have been appointed chairman of the Committee of Ministers of ASECNA and MOWCA. Is this an unprecedented success for Congo?
Congo is a member of ASECNA and MOWCA. Before the statutory meetings of these organizations were held in Brazzaville, Congo held the position of Vice-President. The principle is clear: after the President's term, the Vice-President automatically assumes the Presidency at the end of the renewal session of the Bureau of the Committee of Ministers.
The two organizations having held their meetings in Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo, from July 17 to 21, 2023, Congo was entrusted with the Presidencies of the Committees of Ministers of ASECNA and MOWCA in application of the statutes of these two organizations.
This is how my humble person was elected President of the Committee of Ministers of ASECNA and President of the Committee of Ministers of MOWCA on July 21, 2023. A double election which undeniably reflects the diplomatic influence of His Excellency Mr. Dénis Sassou Nguesso, President of the Republic and Head of State who spares no effort in strengthening relations between Congo and the member countries of the aforementioned organizations. It is unprecedented, as you say, that the Presidencies of these two Organizations were entrusted to my humble person on the same day. But, the great credit goes to the Head of State for his very successful diplomatic action.