African Studies
Utafiti: Journal of African Perspectives
Call for Papers: Utafiti is inviting you to submit your manuscript – any topic in the humanities - for consideration in the next issues.
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The 1997 armed conflicts that resulted in the fall of Pascal Lissouba continued to serve as the landmark around which the Republic of Congo (RoC) regime organised itself formally and ideologically. The end of the five-year transition period, proclaimed in August 2002, led to the establishment of new institutions, with Denis Sassou Nguesso as head of state. Yet in many respects, 2004 in the Congo was still largely dominated by the political and economic structures that had resulted from a series of armed conflicts.
The political year was marked by the organisation of the 50th anniversary of Independence and strategies behind the scenes aimed at modifying the constitution. International relations were marked by concerns about sustainable development, debt reduction and a necessary revision of various bilateral cooperation agreements. The economy continued to be in bad shape and the public health situation was alarming. However, by reaching the completion point of the HIPC initiative the government started to benefit from important debt reductions. Financial scandals were pursued. To calm social tensions, the government increased social service salaries by using oil revenues.
There was little movement in Congolese domestic politics, with President Denis Sassou-Nguesso continuing to dominate the political scene. In foreign affairs, however, the Congo suffered a major rift with its largest neighbour, the DRC, although the issue was nominally resolved by the end of the year. Congo’s economy, and its national budget, again grew at a healthy pace, as it had over the previous several years, fuelled by rising oil production and world petroleum prices. Few of the macro-economic gains trickled down to Congo’s impoverished masses, however. Meanwhile, government corruption and lack of vision for the country’s post-petroleum future continued to be major stumbling blocks to sustainable development.