Brazzaville workshop highlights ambition
The air-conditioned hall of a Brazzaville hotel hummed with accents from Paris, Pointe-Noire and Montreal as the Forum des Organisations de Solidarité Issues des Migrations, better known as FORIM, unveiled its Connect’Diasporas programme on 12 November.
For two hours, development officials, mayors and entrepreneurs weighed the same question: how to channel the know-how and savings of Congolese abroad into concrete neighbourhood projects without drowning them in red tape.
What is Connect’Diasporas?
Funded by the European Union and rolled out in six African countries, the scheme wants to build a structured dialogue between diaspora associations and public institutions, said FORIM president Alioune Sy (FORIM website).
Instead of answering scattered individual requests, the programme offers a single strategic framework, with clear entry points in each ministry and a shared monitoring dashboard, organisers explained.
Why the diaspora matters for Congo
An estimated 300 000 Congolese live abroad, sending home more than 150 million dollars a year, according to World Bank remittance data (EU Delegation in Congo press release).
Beyond money, they carry technical skills picked up in EU labs, Canadian hospitals or Asian start-ups, a resource President Denis Sassou Nguesso’s development roadmap, the PND 2022-2026, explicitly wants to tap.
State institutions on board
During their week in Brazzaville, the FORIM delegation met the ministers of Foreign Affairs, Interior and Planning, as well as the state-backed Fund for Impulse, Guarantee and Support, FIGA.
“We see the diaspora as an extension of national territory,” Foreign Affairs adviser Jean-Pierre Kikadidi said on the sidelines of the meeting, praising the programme’s “transparent, win-win architecture”.
Second mission already scheduled
FORIM will return in seven months to finalise a joint roadmap that lists priority sectors, timelines and indicators, Sy confirmed.
That document should spell out how municipal councils, the Coordination d’Appui aux Projets de Solidarité Internationale pour le Congo-Brazzaville, CAPCOS, and diaspora federations will co-sign projects and share reporting duties.
Focus on priority sectors
Health, agro-processing, vocational training and renewable energy dominate the early conversations, planners say.
These areas mirror the government’s ambition to diversify an oil-reliant economy and create youth jobs, two challenges that local authorities in Makoua, Dolisie and Oyo flagged during the workshop.
Financing the ambition
Connect’Diasporas does not write cheques directly. It helps projects qualify for EU or FIGA co-financing, while the diaspora provides matching funds or expertise.
Sy insists the mechanism excludes purely private ventures: “We support NGOs, cooperatives or city councils working for the common good.”
Voices from the workshop
“Diaspora engineers can design solar mini-grids while municipalities handle land permits,” suggested civil engineer Clarisse Ngoma, who flew in from Lyon.
FIGA analyst Blaise Massamba added that local banks are ready to offer preferential rates once the roadmap sets transparent guarantees.
Regional momentum
FORIM has piloted similar platforms in Senegal and Haiti since 2002, helping raise over 12 million euros for community centres and irrigation schemes.
EU development officer Elisa Conti noted that Congo’s version could become a model for Central Africa, where remittances already outpace some official aid flows.
Next steps to watch
Over the coming months, technical teams will draft sector briefs and compile a database of diaspora skills, says CAPCOS coordinator Armand Mayela.
If the roadmap is validated next summer, the first co-funded projects could break ground in early 2025, offering a tangible bridge between downtown Brazzaville and Congolese talents scattered across the globe.
