#brazzaville

[amy2025874]

Does my hair look beautiful? 😊🔛

[beau-gar]

CONGO BRAZZAVILLE

www.beau-gar.tumblr.com

[aworldofpattern]

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency:

'Not everyone walks the #MetGala red carpet.

Some walk the streets of Brazzaville, turning heads, telling stories and transforming survival into art.

Francis Mbéré, a refugee from the Central African Republic, is a proud member of Brazzaville’s vibrant Sapeur scene. After fleeing violence in Bangui with his family, he found safety, community and self-expression in La Sape.

La Sape, short for La Société des Ambianceurs et des Personnes Élégantes, is a Congolese movement of dandyism born from colonial resistance and cultural pride. Rising to prominence in the 1960s, it blends bold fashion with even bolder spirit. Rooted in dignity, elegance and joy.

For Francis, suiting up isn’t just a look.

It’s his legacy and one he plans passing on to his son.'

© UNHCR/Hélène Caux

5 May 2025

[solarpunkbusiness]

Start-up from Congo develops organic absorbent fibre from invasive plant, the water hyacinth, to clean up oil spills

Divin Kouebatouka (CEO & founder of Green Tech Africa)

Divin Kouebatouka: Green Tech Africa was founded out of a personal and urgent environmental challenge faced by my and my mother´s village in Congo-Brazzaville, where water hyacinth, a highly invasive aquatic plant, had devastated the lake ecosystem, halting fishing, the village's main economic activity. This local environmental crisis, combined with the broader issue of uncontrolled petroleum-based industrial pollution in Congo (an oil-producing OPEC member with frequent oil spills), inspired me to explore sustainable chemistry solutions that could address both problems simultaneously.

Unlike conventional synthetic absorbents on the market, their product, Kukia, can absorb up to 17 times its weight in petroleum-based pollutants, making it highly efficient for cleaning oil spills on water and land. The solution helps restore aquatic ecosystems, improve water quality, and protect biodiversity. The model is replicable across African countries facing similar environmental challenges.

 harvesting the abundant plant not only helps preserve the aquatic environment, but its processing also creates a fibre that is able to absorb toxic oil from the water, reversing the pollution

Additionally, Green Tech Africa’s model goes beyond product provision by offering expertise advice, training, and ecological cleaning services that emphasize prevention, effective leak management, and bioremediation. This holistic approach ensures long-term environmental compliance and restoration rather than temporary fixes. 

Green Tech Africa – Nature’s Answer to Industrial Waste

The start-up from Congo developed an organic absorbent fibre from a local invasive plant, the water hyacinth, to clean up oil spills.

[colonellickburger]

Henry Roy. Girl sleeping, Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo, 2002

[yearningforunity]

Celestin, 48-year-old technician and sapeur for 25 years,in Brazzaville, Congo. © Tariq Zaidi

[recherchestetique]

The CONGO-OCEAN RAILWAY from Pointe Noire to Brazzaville (Congo Brazzaville): 502 km in 14/16 hours

[lesafricainescharmantetfraises]