Festive charity drive lights up Congo logistics
On 23 December 2026, just days before Christmas, the logistics group AGL turned its Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire sites into mini-markets for good will, staging a multi-day charity yard sale that quickly snowballed into a city-wide act of generosity.
The operation, relayed through Congo Terminal, Saga and TBC, focused on collecting toys, clothes, food staples and hygiene items for the Sainte-Catherine orphanage in Loandjili, a home caring for forty girls and boys.
In offices, workshops and even parking lots, cardboard boxes piled up along brightly painted posters carrying the slogan ‘Solidarity Drives Us’, a motto repeated in every WhatsApp group that AGL employees use to coordinate shifts.
By the final afternoon, the volunteers had sorted hundreds of donations into colour-coded crates, ready for the trip to Loandjili, fifteen kilometres north of downtown Pointe-Noire.
Employees rally across sites
AGL’s human resources department reports that nearly 90 % of the 1 200 local staff contributed money, items or time, an unprecedented participation rate for an in-house CSR project.
Drivers from the container terminal volunteered their trucks after shifts, while office clerks labelled parcels late into the night, proving that teamwork goes well beyond the quays and spreadsheets.
“Solidarity, passion, excellence and entrepreneurship are not just buzzwords on a brochure; they are our daily fuel,” insists Raissa Dekambi, Quality, Compliance and CSR manager, who supervised the drive.
She believes such initiatives strengthen staff loyalty at a time when the Congolese logistics sector is recruiting aggressively to keep pace with regional trade corridors.
Orphanage life transformed
Founded in 2019 by social worker Opfointsi Catherine, Sainte-Catherine provides a stable roof, schooling and three meals a day to children aged eighteen months to fifteen years who have lost or been separated from their families.
Inside the modest courtyard, colourful murals depict local wildlife and maps of the Congo, turning bare cement walls into an open-air classroom.
“These presents mean hope,” the founder tells us, holding a plush gorilla still wrapped in cellophane. “Children here rarely receive personalised gifts; today they feel seen.”
The crates delivered by AGL include board games, storybooks in French and Kituba, school bags, football boots, cooking oil, rice, beans and sanitary pads, items selected after a needs assessment done with the orphanage.
CSR meets local development goals
Corporate donations are not new in Congo-Brazzaville, yet experts note a gradual shift from one-off cheques to employee-driven actions that extend company culture beyond factory gates.
Economist Landry Massamba sees reputational advantages: “Consumers increasingly choose brands that prove their usefulness locally; solidarity can therefore become a competitive asset, especially in logistics where services look identical on paper.”
For the Congolese government’s strategic plan ‘Congo Vision 2025’, stronger private-sector engagement in social protection is welcomed as a complement to public programs, authorities regularly underline.
AGL’s initiative fits that narrative without overshadowing official efforts; it channels existing corporate logistics toward community welfare rather than creating parallel structures, analysts say.
Long-term commitments emerge
Beyond the holiday photos, AGL has pledged to maintain quarterly visits, offering mechanical maintenance for the orphanage minibus and tutoring sessions led by volunteer accountants and IT technicians.
The company will also integrate Sainte-Catherine into its ‘One Tree, One Child’ reforestation program, allowing each youngster to plant a seedling near the port access road during Earth Week in April.
For staff, the story is far from over. “Seeing the children smile motivates us to keep going,” says crane operator Juste Mavouenzela, already drafting plans for a football tournament on the orphanage’s dusty field.
Opfointsi Catherine welcomes the long-term view, noting that consistency matters more than one-day headlines when nurturing youngsters who have known instability.
As the packed truck rolled out of AGL’s yard, horns sounded and volunteers broke into spontaneous singing, a vivid reminder that collective action can create immediate joy while laying bricks for a stronger social fabric.
If the Sainte-Catherine model inspires other firms, the yard sale of 2026 might mark more than a festive anecdote; it could signal a new chapter where business growth and community progress travel the same road.
Social media and civic ripple
News of the drive flooded local timelines. On Facebook, the hashtag #AGL4Kids topped Pointe-Noire trends for two days, with users sharing selfies beside donation boxes and encouraging followers to ‘empty wardrobes before pitching opinions’.
Radio Mucode broadcast live from the orphanage during hand-over, mixing soukous hits with on-air fundraising pledges. Several small grocery shops offered discounts to customers donating a kilogram of rice, transforming the campaign into a micro-economy of kindness.
Local councillor Sylvie Ngoma praised the initiative on Télé Congo, hinting at future partnerships: “Private dynamism aligns perfectly with our community welfare agenda; together we can scale up support without straining taxpayers.”
Students from Marien Ngouabi University’s logistics club plan a visit to AGL to study how supply chains fuel social impact.
