Dossier articles from the past 3 months
There is a trait that distinguishes the Congolese Episcopal Conference (CEC): its ability to intervene in the various sectors of society in which it is directly involved. And it does so with competence and determination by a widespread ecclesial presence in the territories. This does not mean a desire for political interference, but a desire…
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On 20 January, President Tshisekedi was sworn in for a second term. But electoral fraud has reached such proportions that the future looks rather bleak. Felix Tshisekedi was sworn in as president on 20 January 2024 for a second mandate. On the last 31 December, the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Independent National Electoral Commission…
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The Democratic Republic of the Congo, 64 years after its independence, has, for many years, embodied the paradox of abundance. It is very rich in natural resources while its population is extremely poor. It is the paradox of a country whose lands are home to the Congo basin, the second largest rainforest in the world…
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The thirty-year instability of the mining provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri is an indicator of the voracity of neighbouring countries, the obtuseness of the Kinshasa government and the lack of interest on the part of the international community. A state of war that also has ethnic implications. Compared to 2018, the elections…
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Walking around the neighbourhoods of Lemba or Matete in Kinshasa or Bacongo and Makélékélé in Brazzaville, you are immediately taken by music that instinctively invites you to join in the dancing. In the evening in the many bars on the outskirts of the two capitals, people move to the rhythm of the rumba. A music…
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The Congo River flows between Kinshasa and Brazzaville. The distance between the two capitals is so small that they seem like a single city. With a common history, they have not grown at the same rate. At the end of the 19th century, the European powers divided the African continent between them. The Congo region…
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Kinshasa is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is experiencing a demographic explosion due to a still high birth rate and migratory flows encouraged by rural poverty and the insecurity of war zones. Today, Kinshasa has 17.07 million inhabitants. It is currently the third most populous city in…
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“Ebale ya Congo ezali lopango te, ezali nzela” (The Congo River is not a barrier, it is a road), sang the famous Congolese musician Joseph Kabasele. Today this statement must be taken with a pinch of salt. People have strong cultural and linguistic ties, but access to capital is no longer automatic. Over time, the…
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The way electronic music entered the African scene in the 1990s, how it was developed, and how it is becoming increasingly relevant. From kuduro in Angola to gqom in South Africa. Two factors occurred in the 1990s that created the space for the entry of electronic sounds into the African musical panorama. Since the 1980s,…
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Afrobeats, bongo, amapiano, rumba, and gengetone are genres that are now heard everywhere. Thanks to social media and the growing investments of the recording industry. The world has never heard so much African music as today. Over the last decade, African music has risen to the forefront of the international scene. Out of all of…
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A collective runs a cultural centre and a record company in Ségou, an unstable area of Mali. To keep the art scene alive and because ‘music and the desire to live cannot be stopped’. Now with eight titles, available digitally, The Lost Maestros is a series from the Malian label Mieruba intended to enhance the…
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For some years now, the Nigerian and Ghanaian Afrobeats music scene has taken on global dimensions in terms of reach, acceptance and impact. Increasingly, the yardstick for measuring the success of an Afrobeats artist is the level of international success he or she enjoys. It means not only collaborating with leading music superstars from around…
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When asked how a farmer’s daughter who became a Catholic nun ended up as one of Brazil’s most influential refugee advocates, Sister Rosita Milesi, 79,…
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Vusi was an honest man and a hard worker. He had cleared a large piece of moorland and turned it into a beautiful fertile field. He…
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On 24 November, the Solemnity of Christ the King, on the occasion of World Youth Day in the Particular Churches, in St. Peter's Basilica the traditional…
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