Level = 0                                         Development: Very Low

Country Overview

What has been going on in Congo (Brazzaville)?

Space Agency and its Activity

What kind of space power do they have?

Weapons and Power Projection

Does Congo (Brazzaville) have space weapons?

Timeline and the Future

What are they planning over there?

OVERVIEW

After three coup-ridden but relatively peaceful decades of independence, the former French colony experienced the first of two destructive bouts of fighting when disputed parliamentary elections in 1993 led to bloody, ethnically-based fighting between pro-government forces and the opposition.

A ceasefire and the inclusion of some opposition members in the government helped to restore peace.

But in 1997 ethnic and political tensions exploded into a full-scale civil war, fuelled in part by the prize of the country's offshore oil wealth, which motivated many of the warlords.

The army split along ethnic lines, with most northern officers joining President Denis Sassou-Nguesso's side, and most southerners backing the rebels. These were supporters of the former president, Pascal Lissouba, and his prime minister, Bernard Kolelas, who had been deposed by President Sassou-Nguesso in 1997.

By the end of 1999 the rebels had lost all their key positions to the government forces, who were backed by Angolan troops. The rebels then agreed to a ceasefire.

Remnants of the civil war militias, known as Ninjas, are still active in the southern Pool region. Most of them have yet to disarm and many have turned to banditry.

Congo is one of sub-Saharan Africa's main oil producers. The resource is the mainstay of the economy and the country has tried to increase financial transparency in the sector.

Full name: Republic of the Congo

• Population: 3.9 million (UN, 2005)
• Capital: Brazzaville
• Area: 342,000 sq km (132,047 sq miles)
• Major languages: French, indigenous African languages
• Major religions: Christianity, indigenous African beliefs
• Life expectancy: 51 years (men), 53 years (women) (UN)
• Monetary unit: 1 CFA (Communaute Financiere Africaine) franc = 100 centimes
• Main exports: Oil, timber, plywood, sugar, cocoa, coffee, diamonds
• GNI per capita: US $950 (World Bank, 2006)
• Internet domain: .cg
• International dialling code: +242

President: Denis Sassou-Nguesso

Denis Sassou-Nguesso began a seven-year term in March 2002 after winning presidential elections in which two of his main rivals - former President Pascal Lissouba and former Prime Minister Bernard Kolelas - were excluded by a residency law.

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 Congo (Brazzaville)'s Space Infrastructure

Congo-Brazzaville is troubled by poverty and hunger, and its space program is not suprisingly, nonexistent. Not only does it not have an agency, but also not much of an infrastructure in which one would arise. The Congo Brazzaville University offers a degree in physics but nothing specific to space related educational architecture, such as astrophysics, astronomy, astronautics or aeronautics. The government has no ministry devoted to science of this type.

Congo-B has no history of being part of any organization dealing with space, nor has any launch capability.

Congo-B lacks the industrial base, the educational base and the political foundation for a process like this to occur within it. It has no functioning university with an astrophysics or astronautics program, and marginal industry.

Congo-B operates no satellites and, not having an orbital presence, has no space power.

The government of Congo-B in Kampala has no plans for attempting to further any ambition in space development or research.

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WEAPONS AND POWER

 None

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Timeline of Events in Congo (Brazzaville)

...From the Past to the Future

1400s - Bakongo, Bateke and Sanga ethnic groups arrive in what is now the Republic of Congo.

1482 - Portuguese navigator Diogo Cao explores the coastal areas.

French rule

1880 - French explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza negotiates an agreement with the Bateke to establish a French protectorate over the north bank of the Congo river.

King Makoko, traditional monarch of Teke people

• His ancestor ceded Teke kingdom to France in 1880
• Traditional monarchies were reintroduced in 1991

1907 - France restricts the role of concessionaires following widespread outrage at revelations of the brutalities of forced labour.

1910 - Middle Congo, as it was known then, becomes a colony of French Equatorial Africa.

1928 - African revolt over renewed forced labour and other abuses carried out in the course of building the Congo-Ocean railway, which resulted in the death of more than 17,000 Africans.

1946 - Congo given a territorial assembly and representation in the French parliament.

1958 - Congolese vote for autonomy within the French Community.

Independence

1960 - Congo becomes independent with Fulbert Youlou as president.

1963 - Youlou forced to resign following workers' unrest; Alphonse Massamba-Debat becomes president and Pascal Lissouba prime minister.

1964 - Massamba-Debat sets up the National Revolutionary Movement as the sole party and proclaims a non-capitalist path of economic development.

Pascal Lissouba: Former president was ousted in 1997

2001: Congolese ex-leader guilty of treason

1968 - Massamba-Debat ousted in a coup led by Marien Ngouabi, who continues his predecessor's commitment to socialism but sets up his own party, the Congolese Workers Party (PCT).

1970 - Ngouabi proclaims Congo a Marxist People's Republic with the PCT as the sole legitimate party.

1977 - Ngouabi assassinated in a plot by Massamba-Debat, who in turn is executed; Joachim Yhombi-Opango becomes president.

1979 - Yhombi-Opango hands over the presidency to the PCT, which chooses Denis Sassou-Nguesso as his successor.

1981 - Congo signs treaty of friendship and cooperation with the Soviet Union.

1990 - The PCT abandons Marxism.

1992 - Voters approve a constitution which establishes a multi-party system; Pascal Lissouba becomes president in Congo's first democratic election.

Civil strife

1993 - Bloody fighting between government and opposition forces over disputed parliamentary elections.

Bernard Kolelas: Ex-PM and former leader of Ninja rebels

2005: Deaths in Congo as ex-PM returns

1994-95 - Ceasefire between government and opposition established; opposition given government posts.

1997 - Full-scale civil war breaks out; pro-Sassou Nguesso forces, aided by Angolan troops, capture Brazzaville, forcing Lissouba to flee.

1999 - Government and rebels sign a peace deal in Zambia providing for a national dialogue, demilitarisation of political parties and the re-admission of rebel units into the security forces.

2001 April - Peace conference ends by adopting a new constitution, paving the way for presidential and parliamentary elections.

2001 September - Transitional parliament adopts a draft constitution. Some 15,000 militia disarm in a cash-for-weapons scheme. IMF starts clearing Congo's $4bn debt.

2001 December - Former president, Pascal Lissouba, convicted in absentia on treason and corruption charges, and sentenced to 30 years' hard labour by the high court in Brazzaville.

2002 January - About 80% of voters in constitutional referendum approve amendments aimed at consolidating presidential powers.

2002 March - Denis Sassou-Nguesso wins presidential elections unopposed after his main rivals are barred from the contest.

Clashes with rebels

2002 March - Intense fighting between government and "Ninja" rebels drives many thousands of civilians from their homes in Pool region. The rebels, loyal to former PM Bernard Kolelas and led by renegade priest Pastor Ntumi, name themselves after the famous Japanese warriors.

2002 June - Government troops battle Ninja rebels in Brazzaville. About 100 people are killed.

2003 March - Government signs deals with Ninja rebels aimed at ending fighting in Pool region. Ninja leader Pastor Ntumi agrees to end hostilities and allow the return of the rule of law.

2004 June - World diamond trade watchdog removes Congo from list of countries recognised as dealing legitimately in diamonds.

Pierre de Brazza
Founder of modern-day Congo who was reburied in Brazzaville

Rare honour for colonialist

Explorer reburied in city named after him

2005 April - Government says a group of army officers, arrested in January over an arms theft, had been planning a coup.

2005 October - Former PM Bernard Kolelas is allowed home to bury his wife after eight years in exile, during which time he was sentenced to death on war crimes charges. He is given an amnesty in November.

2006 January - Congo is chosen to lead the African Union in 2006 after disagreements within the body about Sudan's leadership bid.

TODAY AND INTO THE FUTURE

Nothing Planned

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