The Council of Ministers of December 24 appointed Ignace Nganga at the head of the Congo-Ocean Railway (CFCO). As soon as he takes up his post, this accountant and management controller will have, among other challenges, the relaunching of the activities of this public structure which, for several years, has been slowing down.
Among the files which will very quickly find their way to the table of the new Director General is the project to revitalize the functional capacities of the CFCO. The state-owned railway company, which is facing a decline in activities, is in arrears of wages.
In addition, there was the collision of two trains in June 2019 in Ngondji, located at the entrance to Pointe-Noire, which damaged part of the railway installations. The results of the investigation are not yet known. The CFCO also saw its network damaged in 2016, during the armed conflict in the department of Pool.
To compensate in particular for the deficit of cars and traction units, the Minister in charge of Transport, Ingrid Olga Ghislaine Ebouka-Babackas, announced on December 8 the upcoming arrival of eight new locomotives for the CFCO, from Belgium. . These new machines will bring a breath of fresh air to the railway company.
“Currently, only one weekly rotation is ensured due to the low number of cars as well as traction units. Out of a fleet of 25 passenger cars serving Mbinda and Brazzaville, only 11 are suitable for circulation, ie 36%. Likewise out of a total of 43 locomotives, only 14 are able to circulate, ”indicated the Minister of Transport, during the oral questioning session with debate in the government at the Senate level.
In order to improve the railway network, the company China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) had undertaken to rehabilitate the Pointe-Noire / Brazzaville (510km) and Mont-Belo / Mbinda (285km) lines. It is also prepared to build new lines between Lékana and Sembé (330km), Ouesso and Garabinzam (340km), Lékana and Brazzaville (386km) and finally between Komono and Mossendjo (80km).
This Chinese company had also promised, through a memorandum of understanding signed with the Congolese government in April 2017, to send its experts to Brazzaville for feasibility studies. Note that all these initiatives are still at the project stage.
The CFCO has a network of 886 km, or 510 km between Pointe-Noire and Brazzaville, 285 km from Mont-Bélo to Mbinda and 91 km of the section off the line.
