Brazzaville gathers talents and recruiters
Sunlight poured into the Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza Memorial hall as more than 120 students, graduates and junior professionals answered Moyicare’s invitation. The NGO framed the day under the slogan “Young and Committed: Turn Your Ideas into Innovative, Sustainable Projects”, setting an upbeat, collaborative mood.
- Brazzaville gathers talents and recruiters
- A day of high-impact coaching
- Why logistics jobs matter now
- Digital skills for green growth
- Real stories, relatable advice
- From classroom to contract
- An incubator for bold ideas
- Partnerships that scale impact
- Government support in the background
- What participants say
- Next steps for job seekers
- A ripple effect beyond Brazzaville
- Numbers that tell the story
- Corporate social commitment underlined
- Sustainable momentum sought
Africa Global Logistics Congo and its subsidiary Congo Terminal, two major employers at the Pointe-Noire port, headlined the masterclass. Their participation signalled a growing will among large companies to scout local talent early and to anchor recruitment firmly in the Republic of the Congo’s labour pool (Les Dépêches de Brazzaville).
A day of high-impact coaching
From 09:00 to 17:00, participants rotated through five themed workshops. HR Director Aristide Ndjawe dissected the anatomy of a “selling CV”, line by line, encouraging concise phrasing, quantified results and clear formatting. Beside him, Personnel Administration lead Jean-Gilbert Zepho ran mock interviews that mimicked real hiring pressure.
“Many candidates freeze after the first question,” Zepho noted, urging attendees to rehearse power statements about their achievements. The interactive drills ended with video replays, allowing each candidate to observe posture, eye contact and tone. Laughter eased tension, yet the feedback stayed frank and personalised.
Why logistics jobs matter now
Port activity fuels nearly 85 percent of the country’s trade, according to the Ministry of Transport. As container traffic rebounds after the pandemic, operators need planners, crane drivers, cybersecurity analysts and environmental officers. Ndjawe reminded the audience that these roles often remain unknown outside coastal cities.
“We cannot fill vacancies fast enough,” he said. “Explaining our métiers in Brazzaville widens the funnel and keeps Congolese skills inside the national economy.” His remarks echoed a 2023 Africa Global Logistics report showing that 70 percent of its new hires come from local training initiatives (AGL annual review).
Digital skills for green growth
Sustainability threaded through every panel. Speakers insisted that the port of tomorrow will be paperless, sensor-driven and low-carbon. Moyicare showcased student prototypes: a solar-powered cold box for fish transport and an app mapping recyclable waste points in Brazzaville. Mentors graded the ideas on impact and business realism.
“Sustainable logistics is not a dream; it is our next procurement priority,” Zepho affirmed, citing Congo Terminal’s recent switch to electric RTG cranes. Participants left with a checklist of digital tools—Python, Power BI, GIS—that recruiters consider plus-points even for entry-level technicians.
Real stories, relatable advice
Instead of glossy slides, the organisers relied on testimony. Mireille Makaya, now yard supervisor at Congo Terminal, described her journey from Pointe-Noire Technical High School to overseeing ten straddle carriers. “I was the only woman in my class,” she recalled, “but mentorship made the path clearer.”
Her presence drew questions on work-life balance, safety gear and salary progression. By putting a human face on logistics, the masterclass battled stereotypes that manual labour dominates port careers.
From classroom to contract
Mid-afternoon, recruiters opened a pop-up CV clinic. In less than two hours, 76 résumés received line edits and formatting tweaks. Six candidates earned a fast-track invitation to AGL’s talent database, a digital queue that feeds into internship and junior-staff calls throughout the year.
“Correct spelling alone moves an application from the no to the maybe pile,” Ndjawe reminded the crowd, urging students to proofread each line. The advice sounded basic yet addressed a recurring hurdle flagged in several national employment surveys (Observatoire de l’Emploi 2022).
An incubator for bold ideas
Beyond jobs, the event launched an open call for projects. Teams have six weeks to submit solutions that boost efficiency or cut emissions across the supply chain. Winning concepts secure seed funding plus six months of mentoring by Moyicare and AGL engineers.
Organisers expect proposals ranging from AI-supported cargo tracking to biodegradable pallet wraps. The challenge aligns with the government’s ambition to position the Congo as a green logistics corridor for Central Africa, outlined in the National Development Plan 2022-2026.
Partnerships that scale impact
This masterclass is the third collaboration between Moyicare and AGL Congo in 18 months. Previous sessions in Pointe-Noire and Dolisie produced 40 internships and four permanent contracts, figures confirmed by internal HR dashboards consulted by our newsroom.
The repetition illustrates a strategic shift: rather than one-off donations, companies seek programmes that generate measurable, year-on-year employability gains while nurturing their own recruitment pipelines.
Government support in the background
Although the initiative is private, it complements state efforts. The Ministry of Youth, through its Agence Nationale de l’Emploi, plans to integrate the next masterclass outputs into its digital job-matching platform. A memorandum of collaboration is reportedly in draft, officials hinted during a coffee break interview.
Such synergies could widen reach to secondary cities, where youth unemployment peaks above 30 percent, according to official statistics.
What participants say
Delphin Itoua, 23, fresh from Marien Ngouabi University, called the day “eye-opening”. He realised that extracurricular projects can weigh as much as grades. Adjowa Bidimbou, meanwhile, valued the networking. “Exchanging WhatsApp contacts with recruiters gives me courage,” she smiled, clutching a newly updated CV.
Next steps for job seekers
Moyicare will email workshop slides, interview checklists and a template CV to all attendees this week. A Telegram group remains open for follow-up questions, while AGL HR promised quarterly Q&A livestreams covering aptitude tests and medical evaluations.
Participants also gain preferential access to an online course on supply-chain basics, co-developed with the African Management Institute. Completion certificates can be attached to future applications.
A ripple effect beyond Brazzaville
News of the event spread rapidly on TikTok under the hashtag #Logistique242, amassing over 40 000 views by Monday afternoon. Short vertical clips featured drone shots of the venue, reaction selfies and snippets of Ndjawe’s coaching, matching the media diet of the 18-35 audience.
Numbers that tell the story
At close of play, organisers tallied 138 registrations, 112 physical attendances, 76 CV reviews and 6 immediate shortlistings. Twelve draft project ideas were logged on Moyicare’s portal. These metrics, displayed on a giant LED board, underlined a data-driven approach increasingly prized by sponsors.
Corporate social commitment underlined
AGL and Congo Terminal highlighted that such outreach aligns with the group’s corporate social responsibility pillars: education, environment and entrepreneurship. By investing in local youth, they aim to reduce hiring costs, lower turnover and foster goodwill in host communities, reinforcing economic stability.
Sustainable momentum sought
Both companies pledged to return with an expanded two-day format before the end of the year. Moyicare’s executive director, Blandine Mavouba, floated ideas of adding coding bootcamps and field visits to the port in Pointe-Noire, subject to transport logistics.
“Our dream is to see alumni come back as mentors,” she concluded, drawing applause.
