The Republic of Congo signed a medical sector agreement with the Italian government in November 2024. Through this agreement, Congo will receive funding of 236 million euros, approximately 150 billion CFA francs, intended for the rehabilitation and performance improvement of healthcare facilities in the Republic of Congo. This marks a new step in the materialization of the Mattei Plan. “First, I would like to thank the President of the Republic of Congo for this welcome and also for his personal involvement in cooperation with the Republic of Italy, particularly concerning the Mattei Plan, which is what brings us here today. We had the opportunity today to visit two hospitals: the Mother and Child Hospital, where restructuring has taken place and state-of-the-art equipment for neonatology and resuscitation has been installed. The second hospital is the Makélékélé Hospital, where we observed that a space has been created for the installation of state-of-the-art equipment for intensive care therapy,” explained Italian Minister of Health, Orazio Schillaci.
According to him, modern medicine requires not only innovative technology, but also quality training to enable staff to meet the most urgent needs of the sick population.
For the Minister of International Cooperation and Public-Private Partnership Promotion, Denis Christel Sassou Nguesso, who signed this financing agreement, this is an important step that has just been launched in the context of realizing the Mattei Plan. “Today, we must celebrate the momentum of cooperation that is taking shape because you will recall that in January 2024, on the instruction of the President of the Republic, I took part in the Congo-Italy Forum which launched the Mattei Plan for Africa, a plan which the Congo fully subscribes to through the most authoritative voice, that of the President of the Republic himself,” he stated with satisfaction.
He also recalled that, on the sidelines of this forum, the Ministry of International Cooperation signed a public-private partnership contract in the form of a public service delegation in the health sector with the company Altea. “Following the signing of this agreement, we initiated significant discussions with the Italian Cooperation Agency and, of course, with the Italian Ministry of Cooperation. The conclusion of all these negotiations led to the signing, in November 2024, of a major agreement in the medical field with the Italian government. Thanks to the signing of this agreement, Congo benefited from financing of 236 million euros at highly concessional terms, as it was a zero-interest loan with a 10-year grace period, repayable over 18 years,” explained Denis Christel Sassou N’Guesso.
Through the initial equipment received, the emergency services at the Makélékélé Base Hospital and the Blanche Gomes Mother and Child Hospital have been further strengthened. This operation of delivering equipment to hospitals will continue in the coming days in the seven other concerned hospitals. The goal is to enhance the healthcare provision in the Republic of Congo. A great satisfaction for the Minister of Health and Population, Jean Rosaire Ibara.
“We are delighted that we are now benefiting from this cooperation in the areas of emergency services and neonatology. This is happening simultaneously in nine facilities. The other aspect of this cooperation is the training of the personnel who will use this equipment. This training will take place in two phases: there is training for the users of this equipment in the field. The second phase involves the construction of a school for maintaining this equipment, meaning a diploma-granting training so that we have maintenance technicians in the hospitals,” he stated.