Dieudonné Bantsimba: On all fronts!
The month of March 2023 saw the mayor of Brazzaville (Republic of Congo), Mr. Dieudonné Bantsimba, engage on several issues in decentralization, climate, water management and women’s rights. At the head of the Congolese capital since May 2020, he won a second term in 2022.
The mayor of Brazzaville took an active part in the Forum on the Revival of Decentralization and Local Development of the Republic of Congo, organized by the Ministry of Interior, Decentralization and Local Development, from March 01 to May 04. “This forum is of great importance with regard to the role of decentralization in the socio-economic development of territories. I congratulate the government for its commitment to give a new lease of life to the development of local authorities, in the face of the problems that decentralized entities deal with”, said Mr. Dieudonné Bantsimba. This forum was intended to serve as a framework for consultation and inter-active exchanges between different partners, notably local authorities, state actors, United Nations agencies, bilateral and multilateral partners, development agencies, civil society, consular chambers and decentralized cooperation partners, to give a new impetus to the Decentralization process in Congo.
Then, the mayor of the largest city in Congo took part on March 06, 2023, in the 2nd Forum of Local Authorities on the theme: “From commitment to the implementation of adaptation and resilience measures”. This forum was organized by UCLG Africa in partnership with the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA), UCLG World, the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA), the Union of Cities and Communes of Côte d’Ivoire (UVICOCI), the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the African Development Bank (AfDB), and the West African Development Bank (BOAD). Mr. Dieudonné Bantsimba is a member of the Executive Committee of UCLG Africa in his capacity as President of the Association of Mayors of Congo (AMC).
In Brazzaville, climate change has a significant impact on erosion, which is one of the main environmental challenges of the capital. Upon his arrival in 2020, the mayor and his municipal council also launched a series of road works, with a view to improving the capital’s road network and urban transport system. “Our ambition is to recreate the connecting gates of all the neighborhoods through urban roads which will now benefit from a maintenance program carried out on a regular basis”, he explained.
From March 21 to 24, 2023, the mayor took part in the work of the United Nations Water Conference in New York (USA) to bring the voice of African local authorities alongside other members of UCLG Africa. “These meetings allowed me to highlight some of the challenges posed by water issues, the role of groups in dealing with them, to review the Congolese experience in this context and aspects of a proactive strategy to fill the water resources gap in our country. Finally, in front of my colleagues around the world, I took this opportunity to stress the importance of creating new spaces of governance to promote solidarity for the management of watersheds”, explained Dieudonné Bantsimba on his Facebook page.
In addition, he did not fail to celebrate women on International Women’s Day in this month of March. It is in his electoral district, Mfilou-Ngamaba 2, that a meeting of reflection was held under the national theme: “Women, let’s protect ourselves against online violence with the MOUEBARA law“. “We talked about the origins, the importance and the results of the fight for women’s rights, specifically in the Congo. I reiterated my determination to maintain efforts to guarantee to the women in our constituency an environment conducive to their full development”, he concluded.
Express Bio
Dieudonné Bantsimba has been mayor of Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo, since May 22, 2020. Having grown up in the Poto-poto neighborhood Brazzaville, Dieudonné Bantsimba holds a postgraduate degree from the Urbanism Institute of Paris in France and an advanced studies diploma in urban geography.
In the early 1990s, he joined the municipality of Brazzaville. In particular, he held the position of Director of Land and Urban Management. He was also an Urban Planning Advisor at the Brazzaville Hall.
In 2012, he became chief of staff in the office of the Minister of Planning, Territorial Equipment and Major Works.
As former director of land and urban management, Dieudonné Bantsimba is regularly consulted for his expertise in urban planning. He was notably project manager and coordinator of the national cadastre project with the Head of State, Denis Sassou-Nguesso.