COSPECO’s 18th General Assembly Kinshasa-Brazzaville

It is at the end of a mandate prolonged for some months that the Governor of the provincial town of Kinshasa, André Kimbouta handed over to his counterpart Hugues Ngouélondélé, Mayor of Brazzaville.

In keeping with instruments governing cooperation between the two closest capitals in the world, the Mayor of Brazzaville succeeds the Governor of the provincial town of Kinshasa at the helm of Kinshasa-Brazzaville Special Cooperation Commission (COSPECO) for a two-year term. The handing over ceremony took place in the famous hall of the Kinshasa Town Hall in the presence of experts from the two cities. It was a ceremony highlighted by speeches from the outgoing and in-coming Chairs. From the 2013 – 2015 mandate, one can retain issues such as measures to be taken for the running of eviction ad hoc committees, the Congolese Rumba project, partnership for funding of projects, organisation of the first trade fair coupled with the implementation of the Kinshasa- Brazzaville- Dakar cooperation and triangular twinning agreement. This programme is one of the ambitions of the two capitals and its realization will have to figure in the road map of the 2015 -2017 mandate. A road map involving new projects for the general public, creation of diplomatic ties these cities and the setting up of a consequent budget for the execution of the set of projects highlighted. In view of challenges to be met within the framework of cooperation between Brazzaville and Kinshasa, one can say with certainty that the 2015-2017 mandate will not be a bed of roses for the in-coming team. The latter will have to give a better visibility to this organization which is fast becoming an important tool in the development of these two cities and which henceforth plays a role in diplomatic relations between the two countries. The next meeting has been slated for March 2016, on the occasion of COSPECO’s 19th general assembly.

NG. MB