Congo Brazzaville...Yes, Congo it is... The one you probably never heard of, or barely know how to place on a map; yet it is Congo. Compare to its neighbour DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) it looks small. But in fact it is not that small, around 340,000 km²(a bit smaller than France). So it is kind of big, and it is kind of empty: about 4 million people for all that space, mind you, that is only an estimate as results from the last census have not been published yet even though it was carried out about 3 years ago. Congo has two big cities, the capital Brazzaville and the economic centre Pointe-Noire, and it has lots of small cities and villages disseminated along a sprawling wilderness. You probably never hear of Congo because its giant neighbour, the other Congo or ex-Zaire, grabs all the attention with its endless internal conflicts. You also probably never heard of it because this country suffers from a profound information deficit. There are very few communicational channels; just as there are no roads, no functional electrical distribution grids or water distribution systems, no efficient public education system, no local investments, no entrepreneurial initiatives... Ok, that is a bit of an exaggeration one might say, I admit it, however, generally speaking that is the impression one gets when arriving in the country. This general lack of everything is partly the result of the 90's period which was dominated by a civil war that lasted well into the years 2000. Up to now, only about 30 % of the ex-rebels have accepted to disarm in and around the capital which was one of the main combat field in the 90's. Despite all of this, security is not really an issue anymore for anyone willing to come to Congo, as Brazzaville is surprisingly safe. One can walk or take a cab alone at night without being bothered, you can withdraw money at one of the very few existing bank machines and continue your way normally, in short, you don't always have to watch your bag or your back like in many other underdeveloped countries. However, you do have to be ready to negotiate for everything.... specially if you look like a foreigner, as prices can be multiplied by 5, 10 or even more if you really have no clue on the real value.
So, as I said, there is a profound information deficit here... There are a couple of local medias, however, their content is more than questionable. Indeed, journalists are asking private or public entities to pay them a “displacement fee” in order to cover any of their events... And that is generally known and accepted... Beyond the fact that this interferes deeply with anything relating with the so-called objectivity, one might say that it does not really matter because in the end, local medias are simply very overtly not objective. There are the official channels that are controlled by the government (i.e. the President and his kins), and other private medias mostly controlled by Generals turned into businessman... Beside the lack of quality information in the medias, there is also a generalized lack of information on everything... Don't expect to find anything that resembles a tourist information centre...If you are a tourist in Brazzaville (well, actually, chances are that you are not, because, there are simply not tourists that come here) anything you want to know, you have to ask around and compare answers you get to eventually forge your own idea... Libraries are also very rare, if not simply non-existent. Internet cafes exist, but the connection is so slow that it is a natural barrier to accessing information. In the end, the word of mouth is still the dominating communicational mode: after all, this is Africa, and the oral tradition is still very alive. Rumours start and spread quickly here, sometimes having a real impact on people that believe what they hear and react accordingly.
So Congo is big, empty and isolated from the rest of the world... A black hole, a place where those in positions of power can do pretty much what they want...
