The Economy and Finance Commission of the National Assembly, led by its president Maurice Mavoungou, paid a visit to Congo Télécom, the public telecommunications operator, on Tuesday in order to fully appreciate the achievements that have been taking place there since. April 2020 on the infrastructural and managerial level in order to provide the necessary assistance.
“Like everywhere else, SOEs have the support of their people and the government. It is in this capacity that on behalf of five million Congolese we came to give this message to the management team to say that you have the support of the Congolese ”, declared Maurice Mavoungou, at the end of a visit preceded by a working session.
Since April, when Congo Telecom’s new CEO, Yves Castanou, took office, a perceptible project has been taking place at the company. If the building of the company resulting from the split of the former ONPT is in the process of dressing a new face, Congo Telecom is preparing new commercial challenges already visible to the will of its top management to make the company public ” leader ”in the sector within three years.
A challenge estimated by the president of the Economy and Finance Committee of the National Assembly, who praises “the effort and the quality of the management of this company which, without financial support from the State, is transforming”. To carry out this work, which amazes the Congolese, Congo Télécom has in fact concluded agreements with supplier partners for an amount of 7 billion CFA francs.
“All that is done is the quality of the men. Partners trust them. Since April, you can see what is happening in a short time. It’s like a dream. Without any public support, things get done. The management bodies are functioning, “said Maurice Mavoungou.
Although the current management team has inherited a gloomy social situation, Congo Télécom is working to restore its image. According to the deputy Maurice Mavoungou, whose commission has searched well in the accounting books of the company, “salaries are paid regularly, social contributions are paid, the IRPP, retirement pensions and provisions for those who owe to retire “.
Yves Castanou was recently received at the National Assembly by the Economy and Finance Commission. The visit made by this institution on Tuesday is a way of really seeing what was mentioned by the management of the public operator.
“We are in the period of state budget review. We listened to him but we thought to come on site before deciding, to see what happens. Because our vocation is not simply to pass laws but to legislate by example, “said Maurice Mavoungou.
After a long legal structure and several delayed reforms, Yves Castanou has inherited since April 2020 a major company in the telecommunications ecosystem in Congo. If his management is repeatedly hailed at the head of ARPCE where he spent ten years, with important reforms and a hitherto estimated record, his appointment last March to Congo Telecom had been perceived by many as a commitment of the State to restore the image of the public operator so that it assumes its role of catalyst of the digital ecosystem in Congo.
