Housing Finance in Congo, Republic of the

Macroeconomic Overview

The Central African Republic of the Congo (Congo) is a member state of the Economic Community of Central African States and the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC). Congo’s economy is mainly dependent on oil, which accounted for around 60 percent of economic activities, more than 90 percent of exports and two-thirds of government revenue in 2019.[1] The oil price shock and delayed fiscal adjustment eroded fiscal and external buffers and triggered a deep recession (2.8 percent in 2016 and 1.8 percent in 2017). Heavily indebted, especially to China,[2] Congo was among the world’s 76 poorest nations whose debt repayments in 2020 were frozen by a G-20 moratorium in April 2020.[3]  The freeze aimed to help these countries respond to COVID-19. Consequently, in 2020 the country will no longer register a budgetary surplus of CFA514.722 billion (US$928.5 million), which was voted in December 2019. It will instead register a budget deficit of CFA779.740 billion (US$1.4 billion).[4]

Despite this, economic growth picked up by 2.2 percent in 2019, from 1.6 percent in 2018 after two years of recession.[5] In 2020, an inflation rate of 3.5 percent, and a recession of 12.3 percent in a realistic scenario and 20.4 percent in a pessimistic scenario have been forecast by the Bank of Central African States (BEAC) due to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic.[6] Oil revenues are expected to fall from CFA1.2 trillion (US$2.16 billion) to CFA491 billion (US$887.34 million) in 2020, while tax revenues will decrease from CFA846.984 billion (US$1.54 billion) to CFA347.663 billion (US$94.7 million).[7]

Affordable housing remains a major issue as the country grapples with an exponential population growth and rising urbanisation. More than half of the population are concentrated in the two major cities, Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire. This has resulted in an affordable housing shortage and, due to increased demand, housing prices are high in these cities. As a result, people resort to living in slums and informal settlements. The state is the main actor in the housing sector. However, despite the state’s numerous interventions, one in two households does not have access to decent housing.[8] The National Development Plan 2018-2022 acknowledges that some of the challenges of access include the high cost of building materials, lack of a coherent housing policy, non-compliance with urban planning and construction standards, and inaccessible land. Further, the lack of access to titled land and affordable plots remains a real obstacle to investment in real estate.[9]

The government imposed a one-month lockdown on 31 March 2020, extended by two weeks at the end of April 2020.[10] The economy opened progressively in May 2020 and airports reopened on 24 August 2020.[11] As a result of the lockdown, several construction projects were stopped, leading to a 92 percent fall of activities. In April, the government ordered the resumption of essential work at state-run construction sites. The construction industry is an important provider of jobs in Congo. The closure of private construction, which represents over 80 percent of the sector’s activities,[12] delayed private funded projects, resulting in the escalation of unemployment. By the end of May 2020, the unemployment rate in the construction sector was 62 percent.[13]

To address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the government delayed tax collection and reduced corporate income tax by two percent for the fiscal year 2020. A National Solidarity Fund worth CFA100 billion (US$179 million) was established in March 2020 to support businesses and households. Donors to this fund were granted a 100 percent tax exemption. The BEAC reduced the region’s interest rates, as follows: interest rate for tenders from 3.50 percent to 3.25 percent and the marginal lending facility rate from six percent to five percent.[14]  The BEAC injected CFA500 billion (US$870 million) into the sub-regional banking system,[15] to mitigate the magnitude of COVID-19’s macroeconomic effects and maintain financial stability. In April 2020, the World Bank approved US$11.3 million for COVID-19 responses.[16]  Further, the World Bank reported a fall of diaspora remittances by 23.1 percent in Sub-Saharan Africa,[17] inclusive of the Congo, and this present significant challenges for people who rely on diaspora money for survival, and to build or upgrade their houses.

The lockdown compounded the challenges of people living in informal settlements and slums, with limited space for social distancing and obsolete infrastructure (inadequate water, electricity and sanitation supply, among others). To improve access to infrastructure and basic services for people living in slums in Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire, on 12 August 2020 the government launched the first phase of the Urban Development and Poor Neighbourhood Upgrading Project, known by its French acronym as DURQUAP, in the Brazzaville townships of Moukoundzi Ngouaka and Soukissa.[18]

[1] Linge, I. (2020). Le Congo sera une des principales préoccupations de la BEAC au cours de cette année 2020. 9 avril 2020. Agence Ecofin. https://www.agenceecofin.com/finance/0904-75582-le-congo-sera-une-des-principales-preoccupations-de-la-beac-au-cours-de-cette-annee-2020 (Accessed 15 July 2020).

[2] Kombo, F. (2020). Parlement: la dette rééchelonnée du Congo envers la Chine chiffrée à 1 479,83 milliards FCFA. 18 mai 2019. ADIAC. http://www.adiac-congo.com/content/parlement-la-dette-reechelonnee-du-congo-envers-la-chine-chiffree-1-47983-milliards-fcfa (Accessed 16 July 2020).

[3] Le Monde (2020). Quatre nouveaux pays obtiennent un moratoire sur le service de leur dette. 10 juin 2020. https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2020/06/10/quatre-nouveaux-pays-obtiennent-un-moratoire-sur-le-service-de-leur-dette_6042352_3212.html (Accessed 20 July 2020).

[4] Mbadi, O. (2020). Brazzaville prévoit un déficit budgétaire de plus d’un milliard d’euros en 2020. 23 avril 2020. Jeune Afrique. https://www.jeuneafrique.com/933467/economie/brazzaville-prevoit-un-deficit-budgetaire-de-plus-dun-milliard-deuros-en-2020/ (Accessed 20 July 2020).

[5] African Development Bank (2020). Perspectives économiques au Congo. 2020. African Development Bank. https://www.afdb.org/fr/countries/central-africa/congo/congo-economic-outlook. (Accessed 20 July 2020).

[6] Ministère de l’économie (2020). Conséquences économiques nationales de la pandémie de covid-19. 5 août 2020. https://economie.gouv.cg/fr/articles/communication-de-monsieur-le-ministre-d%E2%80%99etat-ministre-de-l%E2%80%99economie-de-l%E2%80%99industrie-et-du?tid=Discours (Accessed 18 September 2020).

[7] Ministère de l’économie (2020). Conséquences économiques nationales de la pandémie de covid-19. 5 août 2020.  https://economie.gouv.cg/fr/articles/communication-de-monsieur-le-ministre-d%E2%80%99etat-ministre-de-l%E2%80%99economie-de-l%E2%80%99industrie-et-du?tid=Discours (Accessed 3 September 2020).

[8] Banque Mondiale. (2020). Financement du logement en zone CEMAC: Vers un logement abordable pour tous. Avril 2020. (Accessed 30 August 2020).

[9] Banque Mondiale. (2020). Financement du logement en zone CEMAC: Vers un logement abordable pour tous. Avril 2020. (Accessed 30 August 2020)

[10] VOA Afrique (2020). Le Congo en déconfinement progressif à partir de lundi. 16 mai 2020.  https://www.voaafrique.com/a/5422816.html (Accessed 23 August 2020).

[11] VOA Afrique (2020). Le Congo rouvre ses frontières aériennes. 20 août 2020. https://www.voaafrique.com/a/le-congo-rouvre-ses-fronti%C3%A8res-a%C3%A9riennes-/5551524.html (Accessed 23 August 2020).

[12] Kombo, F. (2020). Construction: le secteur du BTP durement impacté par la crise sanitaire Covid-19. 22 juin 2020. Agence d’Information de l’Afrique Centrale. http://www.adiac-congo.com/content/construction-le-secteur-du-btp-durement-impacte-par-la-crise-sanitaire-covid-19-117088 (Accessed 14 July 2020).

[13] Ministère de l’économie (2020). Conséquences économiques nationales de la pandémie de covid-19. 5 août 2020. https://economie.gouv.cg/fr/articles/communication-de-monsieur-le-ministre-d%E2%80%99etat-ministre-de-l%E2%80%99economie-de-l%E2%80%99industrie-et-du?tid=Discours (Accessed 3 September 2020).

[14] Pibasso, A.M. (2020). Zone CEMAC: La BEAC baisse les taux directeurs en riposte au COVID-19. 29 mars 2020. Financial Afrik. https://www.financialafrik.com/2020/03/29/zone-cemac-la-beac-baisse-les-taux-directeurs-en-riposte-au-covid-19/ (Accessed 24 August 2020).

[15] Kombo, F. (2020). Zone Cémac: la banque centrale va injecter 500 milliards FCFA pour atténuer l’impact du Covid-19. 30 mars 2020. Agence d’Informations de l’Afrique Centrale. http://www.adiac-congo.com/content/zone-cemac-la-banque-centrale-va-injecter-500-milliards-fcfa-pour-attenuer-limpact-du-covid (Accessed 14 July 2020).

[16] World Bank. (2020). La Banque mondiale alloue 11,3 millions de dollars à la République du Congo pour répondre à la pandémie de coronavirus. 23 avril 2020. https://www.banquemondiale.org/fr/news/press-release/2020/04/23/the-world-bank-provides-113-million-to-support-the-republic-of-the-congos-response-to-the-coronavirus-pandemic (Accessed 20 July 2020).

[17] World Bank Group. (2020). World Bank Predicts Sharpest Decline of Remittances in Recent History. 22 April 2020. https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2020/04/22/world-bank-predicts-sharpest-decline-of-remittances-in-recent-history (Accessed 25 July 2020).

[18] Vox Congo. (2020). Lancement du projet DURQUAP à Moukoundzi Ngouaka et Soukissa. 17 August 2020.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQRWxNEHqMU (Accessed 30 August 2020).

Access to Finance

There are 11 commercial banks in Congo. Despite the current crisis, the Congolese banking system is doing relatively well, and has posted a balance sheet total of 6.3 percent and a satisfactory development in other performance indicators.[1] Congo has one of the worst rates of financial inclusion on the continent. Not having a formal bank account means exclusion from banking services, in this case access to credit. Only 13 percent of the population has a bank account.[2]  The low level of banking could be attributed to insufficient income (poverty), lack of trust in the banking culture and the weight of the informal sector in the economy. The informal economy, which generated CFA3 trillion (US$5.5 billion) in 2017, employs approximately 73 000 people.[3] It is anticipated that by the end of 2020, the national banking system will record non-reimbursed credits of nearly CFA400 billion (US$721.6 million). However, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the government has urged banks and microfinance institutions to restructure the debts of their customers, on a case-by-case basis.

Access to finance for housing is through the banks, such as the Société Générale Congo, La Congolaise de Banque, Ecobank Congo, Credit du Congo and Congolese Housing Bank or Banque Congolaise de l’Habitat (BCH). The state owns 83.7 percent of BCH, and the bank is a central player in the mortgage housing sector. Housing loan programmes, under BCH, are designed specifically for people who want to acquire new houses from an approved property developer, either build or upgrade their houses. The programme has four categories: Housing Savings Plan, Housing Savings Credit, Direct Housing Credit and the Self-construction Credit. BCH grants mortgage loans at subsidised rates of around 6.5 percent through its housing savings products. Despite this, mortgage credit remains underdeveloped, making it impossible to alleviate the existing housing deficit. Mortgage loans are available to only 2.8 percent of the population. This low percentage could also be attributed to the costs associated with mortgages, because holders are required by the law to pay for mortgage registration to the land register, annually. Commercial banks lack access to long-term resources and only grant short-term and medium-term credit.[4] Created in 2008 to provide housing finance and mortgage loans to boost home ownership, the BCH is not effectively fulfilling this role due to the lack of long-term finance. The National Housing Fund (NHF), created simultaneously by the state to provide the BCH with the resources it needs to carry out its mandate, is not doing this due to the lack of adequate structure and legislation. BCH’s outstanding mortgage loans represent only 20 percent of its total credit. These loans are mostly in the form of consumer credit, the terms of which do not exceed five years. The NHF collects a monthly tax of two percent on private sector’s salaries and is holding nearly CFA13 billion (US$23.5 million), which is intended to finance housing.[5]

Despite many microfinance outlets, few offer specific housing products due to lack of access to long-term finance. In some instance, households invest in housing through ordinary consumer credit.[6]  The Savings and Loans Funds, known by its French acronym as MUCODEC, is the country’s leading microfinance institution.

[1] Kombo, F. (2020). Économie nationale: les actifs des banques congolaises en hausse de 6,3%. 21 juillet 2020. http://www.adiac-congo.com/content/economie-nationale-les-actifs-des-banques-congolaises-en-hausse-de-63-117973 (Accessed 20 July 2020).

[2] Mapanga, G. (2016). Le Congo a un faible taux de bancarisation de 13%. 26 février 2016.  Les Echos de Congo Brazzaville. https://lesechos-congobrazza.com/economie/635-le-congo-a-un-faible-taux-de-bancarisation-de-13. (Accessed 1 September 2020).

[3] Journal de Brazza. (2019). Congo: 73 mille individus sont actifs dans le secteur informel. 8 avril 2019. Journal de Brazza. https://www.journaldebrazza.com/congo-73-mille-individus-sont-actifs-dans-le-secteur-informel/ (Accessed 1 September 2020).

[4] Banque Mondiale (2020). Financement du logement en zone CEMAC: Vers un logement abordable pour tous. Avril 2020. (Accessed 30 August 2020).

[5] Banque Mondiale (2020). Financement du logement en zone CEMAC: Vers un logement abordable pour tous. Avril 2020. (Accessed 30 August 2020).

[6] Banque Mondiale (2020). Financement du logement en zone CEMAC: Vers un logement abordable pour tous. Avril 2020. (Accessed 30 August 2020).

Affordability

Congolese struggle to access decent, affordable housing. Government-supported social housing units are costly and the process to acquire these is onerous and lengthy. Completed social housing units can cost between CFA17.5 million (US$31 617) and CFA91 million (US$164 408), which people who earn a minimum wage of CFA90 000 (US$159) cannot afford. Less than 4.9 percent of the Congolese are covered by social protection programmes.[1] The state-run Société de Promotion Immobilière (SOPRIM) is the government’s real estate developer, and houses are marketed using the Vente en l’Etat Futur d’Achevement (VEFA) approach (also known as purchase off-plan, which consists of buying a property which has not been completed). It involves six steps and a percentage of the selling price is paid at various stages of building to when the keys are handed over. VEFA has no options for those who fail to meet these requirements. The poor resort to buying land in underdeveloped, low-lying areas prone to flooding, landslides, and strong winds. Such a piece of land measuring 400m² (20m by 20m it will cost between CFA1 million and CFA3 million (US$1 767-US$5 300).[2]

[1] Banque Mondiale. (2017). Rapport sur l’Analyse de la Pauvreté. 2017. http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/359991503510903731/pdf/114706-FRENCH-v2-Republic-of-Congo-FRE-7-17-17-M3.pdf (Accessed 1 September 2020).

[2] Ndokolo, R. (2018). Quelle politique du logement au Congo-Brazzaville?  17 septembre 2018.  Agence d’Information d’Afrique Centrale. http://adiac-congo.com/content/quelle-politique-du-logement-au-congo-brazzaville-89087 (Accessed 22 July 2020).

 

 

Housing Supply

Despite the high cost of building materials, many Congolese opt for self-construction. Over 90 percent of the housing stock has been built through self-construction, which accounts for nearly 248 000 housing units.[1] Much of the housing in the cities is supplied informally in poorly located areas making these households vulnerable to natural disasters. In April 2020, floods destroyed houses and businesses in Talangai, an impoverished neighbourhood of Brazzaville.[2] Evaluations carried out in Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire showed that over 213 000 people have been affected by flooding caused by torrential rains that have been falling since December 2019.[3] A further challenge is the government’s arbitrary evictions. On 18 August 2020, security forces chased away 39 families from a site in Kintélé where they had been living in since 2014.[4]

The Ministry of Construction, Urbanism and Housing reports a need to construct a minimum of 15 000 houses a year to resolve the housing deficit. The state is lagging with its ambitious project, launched in 2005, to build 10 000 housing units a year,[5] due to the expropriation and relocation of households occupying earmarked land and the lack of funding following the economic crisis. Housing projects (ongoing and completed), such as Cité de Clairon, Camp 15-Août, Bacongo, Oyo, Owando, Camp Mpila, Kintélé, Kindamba, Diosso, among others, indicate the country’s infrastructural transformation. However, most of housing built by SOPRIM remains too expensive for the average household. Large state housing construction projects are also being financed by China through a long-term debt of CFA332 005 440 000 (around US$600 million). However, the Chinese funding, which has built over 1 000 luxury apartments, has not boosted affordable housing.[6]  As of September 2020, these apartments remain vacant due to the lack of adequate policies for allocation and a lack of customers for the product.

Stehroniope Expansion company plans to embark on future housing projects including the launch of an industrial unit in Gamboma. The private-owned project is anticipated to construct 2 400 wooden housing units a year. The company signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the government for the purchase of 800 housing units (400 in Brazzaville and 400 in Pointe-Noire).[7]  The World Bank says the private sector is not involved in the housing sector, as it contributes neither to real estate development (housing supply) nor to housing finance through commercial banks (housing demand).[8]

[1] Vox Congo. (2016). Des logements sociaux pour qui? 11 janvier 2016. https://www.vox.cg/2016/01/des-logements-sociaux-pour-qui/ (Accessed 30 August 2020).

[2] Mapanga, G. (2020). Brazzaville: Talangaï les pieds dans l’eau en plein confinement. 28 avril 2020. Les Echos du Congo Brazza. https://lesechos-congobrazza.com/environnement/6938-brazzaville-talangai-les-pieds-dans-l-eau-en-plein-confinement (Accessed 17 September 2020)

[3] L’Express. (2020). Congo: plus de 200 000 personnes sinistrées par des inondations. 29 fevrier 2020. L’Express. https://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/monde/afrique/congo-plus-de-200-000-personnes-sinistrees-par-des-inondations_2119684.html (Accessed 18 September 2020)

[4] AFP/VOA Afrique (2020). Les survivants des explosions de Brazzaville expulsés d’un site de relogement. 21 août 2020. https://www.voaafrique.com/a/les-sinistr%C3%A9s-des-explosions-de-brazzaville-expuls%C3%A9s-d-un-site-de-relogement/5551558.html (Accessed 24 August 2020).

[5] Banque Mondiale. (2020). Financement du logement en zone CEMAC: Vers un logement abordable pour tous. Avril 2020. Microsoft Word Document. (Accessed 17 September 2020).

[6] Banque Mondiale. (2020). Financement du logement en zone CEMAC: Vers un logement abordable pour tous. Avril 2020. (Accessed 30 August 2020).

[7] Agence Pour la Promotion des Investissements Congo-Brazzaville (2020). Unité de fabrication des maisons en bois tout confort intégré au Congo. 2020. API-Congo. https://apicongo.org/projets_prives.php (Accessed 18 September 2020).

[8] Banque Mondiale. (2020). Financement du logement en zone CEMAC: Vers un logement abordable pour tous. avril 2020. (Accessed 17 September 2020).

Property Markets

Congo’s rental market has been in free fall since 2018 due to the economic crisis.[1] In neighbourhoods where rent is expensive, tenants hit by the economic crisis have been negotiating with landlords to decrease the price. Current rental rates are as follows: a two-bedroom house rented in 2016 for CFA70 000 (US$126.30) was reportedly rented at CFA50 000 (US$90.22) due to the cash crunch. A house that was rented for CFA200 000 (US$360.87) in July 2018 had reportedly come down by half by September 2018. Despite this, the rental price remained high in the city centre of Brazzaville and upmarket suburbs. Renting a modern apartment in the city centre of Brazzaville can cost between CFA1.5 million (US$2 680) and CFA2.5 million (US$4 467) a month.

Major players in the housing sector are SOPRIM and the Ministry of Regional Planning and the General Delegation of Major Works. SOPRIM programmes include high and medium targets, as well as low-cost housing. The cheapest and most economical unit is sold for CFA9 million (US$16 385), but selling prices vary according to the income of the purchasing households. The resale market will have a long way to recover after being affected by the economic crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Land management remains in the hands of the state. Landowners pay property tax according to the Finance Act of 2019. Land tenure measures being implemented by the government are expected to strengthen tenure security. These include issuing land titles, registration of landowners, and an initiative to create a one-stop-shop for land, among others. Only around six percent of registered plots in the capital of Brazzaville have a title deed, according to the Land Conservation Authority estimates. Registering a property takes 54 days through five procedures and costs the equivalent of 13.6 percent of the property value. The quality of land administration index is 3.5, which means it fares poorly, compared to the average index of 9.0 in Sub-Saharan Africa and 23.2 in OECD high income countries.[2] The quality of land administration index has five dimensions: reliability of infrastructure, transparency of information, geographic coverage, land dispute resolution, and equal access to property rights. Past and newly issued land records and cadastral plans are still being kept in a paper format. The Deed Registration System is the type of land registration system, and the Property Registry (Conservation foncière) is in charge of immovable property registration. However, there is no electronic database for recording boundaries, checking plans and providing cadastral information. Though a registrar or a notary is responsible for verifying the identity of the parties involved in transactions, there is no national database to verify the accuracy of the identity documents issued by the government. The country also lacks a comprehensive electronic database for checking for encumbrances (liens, mortgages and restrictions, among others).

[1] Gassia, L.M. (2018). Logement: les prix des loyers en baisse à Brazzaville. 5 Septembre 2018. Agence d’Information d’Afrique Centrale. http://www.adiac-congo.com/content/logement-les-prix-des-loyers-en-baisse-brazzaville-88546 (Accessed 26 July 2020).

[2] World Bank (2020). Doing Business 2020. Republic. of Congo. https://www.doingbusiness.org/content/dam/doingBusiness/country/c/congo-rep/COG.pdf (Accessed 2 August 2020).

Policy and Regulation

The country faces an unprecedented wave of unstructured and uncontrolled urban development. Although there is legislation that prohibits the occupation and acquisition of land located in areas unsuitable for construction, people continue to sell and allocate such land. Buyers, likewise, continue to buy and build on such land because they are desperate for housing.[1] In January 2020, during a meeting with the Landowners’ Federation, Land Affairs Minister Pierre Mabiala announced that the allocation of all land located in the peripheral zones has been prohibited until further notice.[2]

With assistance from international partners, such as the United Nations Development Programme and UN-Habitat, Congo is designing a sustainable national policy for construction, housing and urban development.[3]  The policy will allow each Congolese to have access to decent housing, in line with environmental and cultural requirements, as well as basic collective and quality social services.

[1] De Maissa, J. (2020). Des Ponténégrins font construire des maisons à étages sur des terrains sablonneux et marécageux. 25 juillet 2020. Les Echos du Congo Brazzaville. https://lesechos-congobrazza.com/environnement/6617-des-pontenegrins-font-construire-des-maisons-a-etages-sur-des-terrains-sablonneux-et-marecageux (Accessed 20 August 2020).

[2] Makaya, R. (2020). Environnement urbain: le lotissement des zones périphériques désormais interdit. 14 Janvier 2020. ADIAC. http://www.adiac-congo.com/content/environnement-urbain-le-lotissement-des-zones-peripheriques-desormais-interdit-111425 (Accessed 2 September 2020).

[3] MCUH. (2019). Politique nationale de l’habitat. 29 octobre 2019. Ministry of Construction, Urban Planning and Housing https://www.construction.gouv.cg/info_politique.html (Accessed 2 September 2020).

Opportunities

There is an opportunity in developing the rental market by targeting the urban poor, mostly dwellers of Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire. There is also an opportunity to provide thousands of low-cost quality houses to low-income earners through rent-to-own schemes. There is also an opportunity to launch a poor-centred mortgage section, mostly aimed at the informal sector earners.

 

Availability of data on housing finance

There is no centralised database for housing information in the Republic of Congo. However, some information is available at the Ministry of Construction, Urbanism and Habitat, the Property Registry (Conservation foncière), as well as at SOPRIM, the state agency that manages social housing projects.

Banking and finance information can be found at BEAC and the Commission Bancaire de l’Afrique Centrale Congo offices and the Ministry of Finances and Budget.

Investors can contact the Agence pour la Promotion des Investissements – Congo and check the iGuide Congo (Guide de l’investissement de la République du Congo). Information is readily available.

For online research, the best site for housing (logements sociaux) is the Agence d’Information d’Afrique Centrale, which has a comprehensive report on housing, land, property tax and land management. The Journal Officiel de la Republique du Congo (Government Gazette) is also a credible source for laws and regulation on property construction, land occupation and land management.

Additional Sources

MUCODEC https://www.mucodec.com/

Vivre au Congo http://www.vivreaucongo.com/

Banque Congolaise de l’Habitat http://www.bch.cg/

Ministère de la Construction et de l’Urbanisme  https://www.construction.gouv.cg/

SOPRIM https://soprimcongo.wordpress.com/

API-Congo https://apicongo.org/

iGuides Congo https://theiguides.org/public-docs/guides/congo/databases

Stehroniope http://www.stehroniope.com/

COVID-19

A lockdown was imposed from the end of March and extended by two weeks. A progressive reopening began by mid-May.

The BEAC met on March 27 to reduce the CEMAC region’s interest rates, as follows: interest rate for tenders from 3.50 percent to 3.25 percent, and the marginal lending facility rate from six percent to five percent. Corporate income tax in Congo was reduced from 30 percent to 28 percent.

The pandemic did not stop people from being evicted.

For informal settlements, Phase 1 of the Urban Development and Poor Neighborhood Upgrading Project kicked off on August 12 in the Brazzaville townships of Moukoundzi Ngouaka in Makélékélé and in Sukissa (Ouénzé). Jointly funded by the government and the World Bank for US$80 million, the project aims to improve access to infrastructure and basic services for people in selected informal settlements in Brazzaville and Pointe Noire, and strengthen government and municipal capacity for urban upgrading to reduce the emergence of new informal settlements.