Republic of Congo Religion

According to the Constitution, religious freedom in the Congo-Brazzaville is to be governed and this is generally respected by the country’s government. Christianity is the dominant religion.

More than four-fifths of the country’s residents are Christians. Since the French colonial period, the Catholic Church has dominated. But in recent years, Protestant revival movements have gained many new followers of faith and Protestants now make up 40 percent. Catholics have fallen to a third.

About 15 percent are covered by traditional African beliefs. However, most Congolese practice a kind of mixture of Christianity and animism (religious belief).

There is also a small group of Muslims. A little over a tenth is stated to lack faith.

Republic of the Congo Population Pyramid 2020

  • Countryaah: Population statistics for 2020 and next 30 years in Republic of the Congo, covering demographics, population graphs, and official data for growth rates, population density, and death rates.

2020

May

Sassou Nguesso appeals to the IMF for crisis loans

May 7

President Denis Sassou Nguesso appeals to the IMF for the country to receive a crisis loan of up to $ 500 million. He says the money is needed and that Parliament has now agreed on a savings package that will cut the state budget by half. In July 2019, the IMF granted a crisis loan to the Congo-Brazzaville, but in December of the same year, a second payment was stopped and the government was asked to try to borrow money from oil companies to pay off foreign debt, which then amounted to $ 1.7 billion. According to the government, negotiations on this are ongoing.

April

Restrictions are extended, but strike the economy

April 30th

The health emergency introduced in March is now extended to May 10. Earlier in April, some restrictions were made in the restrictions. The corona crisis, along with falling oil prices, is hitting the country’s economy hard, and the government expects GDP to fall by 9 percent in 2020. However, oil production in the country continues during the pandemic. Until April 27, about 200 cases of covid-19 have been reported in the country and at least eight people have died in the disease.

March

Ex-president dies in covid-19

March 31st

Congo-Brazzaville’s former president Jacques-Joachim Yhombi-Opango dies in the suites of covid-19. He was president from 1977 to 1979 and was deposed in a coup when then-Colonel Denis Sassou-Nguesso took over the country’s leadership. Yhombi-Opango dies in exile in France

Congo-Brazzaville announces a health emergency

March 28

Congo-Brazzaville announces a health emergency in the country. Authorities are introducing a nightly curfew on March 31 as a measure to prevent the spread of the new corona virus. During the daytime, they are only allowed to leave their homes to buy food or carry out other necessary tasks. Only trips deemed necessary are allowed. People are also asked to wear mouth protectors if they move outside.

First case of covid-19 in Congo-Brazzaville

March 15th

The first confirmed case of the virus disease Covid-19 is reported from Congo-Berazzaville. The country has already introduced quarantine for 14 days for visitors from China, South Korea, Iran, France and Italy, although they do not show any symptoms.

January

Global Witness: Oil company’s shoulder weighs on the economy

January 27

There is much to suggest that Congo-Brazzaville has larger debts than previously known, due to uncertainties about the state oil company SNPC’s finances. According to the organization Global Witness, which says the debt could be as much as a third larger than the IMF calculated last year in connection with the payment of a fourth crisis loan, after the country was hit hard by falling oil prices. Global Witness believes that SNPC owes nearly $ 3 billion to several other oil companies including Total, Chevron and Eni.

Republic of Congo Religion