27-808: Pascal Lissouba (15 November 1931 – 24 August 2020) was a Congolese politician who was the first democratically elected President of the Republic of the Congo and served from 31 August 1992 until 25 October 1997. He was overthrown by his predecessor and current president Denis Sassou Nguesso in the 1997 civil war . Lissouba was born in Tsinguidi, south-west Congo, to Bandjabi parents. He attended primary school in Mossendjo and Boko . He began his secondary studies in Brazzaville and gained his education at
54-556: A commune since the 2002 Constitution. Before this date it was the capital of the Kouilou region (now a separate department). It is situated on a headland between Pointe-Noire Bay and the Atlantic Ocean . Pointe-Noire is the main commercial centre of the country and has a population of 1,420,612 inhabitants in 2023. The coat of arms of the city of Pointe-Noire is: "Gold at the point of sand accompanied by two silver oars,
81-624: A guerrilla war. The vital Congo-Ocean Railway from the coastal city of Pointe-Noire was cut, and Brazzaville was heavily damaged before a cease-fire was agreed to in December 1999. Following his overthrow, Lissouba lived in exile in London . He intended to return to the Congo for the 2002 elections, but in December 2001 he was tried in absentia in Brazzaville, and sentenced to 30 years forced labor for treason and corruption , related to
108-640: A tropical savanna climate under the Köppen climate classification . The city has a wet season that spans from October through April, while the remaining 5 months form the dry season . Pointe-Noire receives roughly 1,000 millimetres (39 in) of precipitation annually. Temperatures are somewhat cooler during the dry season with average temperatures roughly at 24 degrees Celsius. During the wet season, average temperatures hover around 28 degrees Celsius. Football teams include Association Sportive des Cheminots and Jeunesse Sportive les Bougainvillées . Pointe-Noire
135-868: A $ 150 million oil deal with the American company Occidental Petroleum . Since 2004, he had been living in Paris in exile. He was first married to Annette Chantegreil (1933-2019), then to Jocelyne Rosdam, a French national and is the father of eleven children. His eldest daughter, Mireille Lissouba, was his chief of staff from 1993 to 1996, while his younger daughter, Danielle Bineka is a university professor and writer, both currently exiled in Canada. His mother, Marie Bouanga died in 1996. Lissouba died in Perpignan , France , on 24 August 2020, due to complications from Alzheimer's disease , aged 88. List of presidents of
162-584: A block of black rocks on the headland in 1484. From then on, Pointe-Noire, called in Portuguese Ponta Negra , became a maritime point of reference, and then a small fishing village starting in 1883, after the French signed a treaty with local people, the Loangos . In 1910, French Equatorial Africa ( Afrique équatoriale française , AEF) was created, and French companies were allowed to exploit
189-610: A researcher at ORSTOM . He was appointed lecturer in plant biology by decree of the French Ministry of National Education on 3 November 1961. Initially he was a civil servant, working as a managing director in the Department of Agriculture (1962–63), having returned in 1962. But his abilities advanced him to become Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Water, and Forestry on 16 August 1963 until 1966 and then Prime Minister (1963–66) under President Alphonse Massamba-Débat . He
216-480: Is the essential centre of the oil industry of the Republic of Congo , one of the main oil producers in Central Africa . Congolese oil has been largely exploited by the French company Elf Aquitaine since its discovery around 1980. Pointe-Noire is also known for its fishing industry , which is often at odds with the oil development. Local waters are reportedly getting overfished. Formerly, Pointe-Noire
243-725: The Middle Congo (modern-day Congo Brazzaville). It soon became necessary to build a railroad that would connect Brazzaville , the terminus of the river navigation on the Congo River and the Ubangui River , with the Atlantic coast. As rapids make it impossible to navigate on the Congo River past Brazzaville, and the coastal railroad terminus site had to allow for the construction of a deep-sea port, authorities chose
270-464: The Congolese government, Pointe-Noire has seen the emergence of some young universities. The city has several private institutes and universities: Pointe-Noire is home to Agostinho-Neto International Airport which as of August 2023 had direct flights to Abidjan , Addis Ababa , Brazzaville , Cotonou , Douala , Istanbul , Libreville , Luanda and Paris and was the second busiest airport in
297-724: The Lycée Félix Faure in Nice (1948–52), where he obtained a baccalaureate . He then studied Agronomy at the École Supérieure d'Agriculture in Tunis and secured a diploma in agricultural engineering in 1956. At the University of Paris (1958–61) he received a doctoral degree in biology. He was also a fellow trainee at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Paris and at ORSTOM. In June 1961, he worked as
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#1732773347241324-696: The Pointe Noire terminus. On 22 June 2010 a train departing from Pointe-Noire derailed resulting in the deaths of many passengers. The railway was built by the French between 1921 and 1934 during the French colonial rule in Congo. Pointe-Noire has a taxi-bus network that runs throughout the entire city. Among the places of worship , they are predominantly Christian churches and temples: Roman Catholic Diocese of Pointe-Noire ( Catholic Church ), Evangelical Church of Congo ( World Communion of Reformed Churches ) and Assemblies of God . Pointe-Noire has
351-576: The Republic of the Congo This is a list of presidents of the Republic of the Congo since the formation of the post of president in 1960, to the present day. A total of six people have served as President of the Republic of the Congo (not counting one acting/interim head of state and two collective presidencies). Additionally, one person, Denis Sassou Nguesso , has served on two non-consecutive occasions. The new constitution in 2015 removed
378-459: The age limit, reduced the length of presidential term from seven years to five, and extended term limits from two to three terms. Pointe-Noire Pointe-Noire ( French pronunciation: [pwɛ̃t.nwaʁ] ; Kongo : Njinji , French : Ndjindji with the letter d following French spelling standards ) is the second largest city in the Republic of the Congo , following the capital of Brazzaville , and an autonomous department and
405-596: The city. In 1942, the Pointe-Noire Harbour welcomed its first ship, and made the city the AEF's seaport . In 1950, Pointe-Noire had 20,000 inhabitants, and became the capital of the Middle Congo , while Brazzaville was the capital city of the AEF. In 1957, the Middle-Congo became the Republic of Congo, although it was still not independent. Incidents which occurred during 1958 legislative elections led
432-530: The country. Pointe-Noire is also the terminus of the Congo-Ocean Railway , the railway station being a notable building. As of 2014 the railway was operating the La Gazelle train service every other day to Brazzaville and intermediate destinations. Thanks to its rapid growth, the city now includes Tié-Tié Railway Station and Ngondji Railway Station , the next railway stations after
459-604: The elections. Widespread civil war was averted when Gabon and the Organisation of African Unity intervened, but sporadic fighting continued until January 1995. Fighting broke out again in June 1997 when Lissouba engaged militias loyal to former President Col. Denis Sassou Nguesso of the Congolese Labor Party (PCT) in Brazzaville , accusing the former president of an attempted coup. Sassou Nguesso, however,
486-510: The handle gules, laid in chevron poured, the tip and oars moving from a sea of azure wavy three streams of silver" Pointe-Noire is a commune divided into six urban boroughs ( arrondissements ): Pointe-Noire is also a department which include the area of the commune and, since 2011, the district of Tchiamba-Nzassi , formerly part of the Kouilou department. The name Pointe-Noire ("Black Point") originated with Portuguese navigators who saw
513-693: The leaders of the Democratic Union for the Defence of African Interests ( Union démocratique pour la défense des interets africains , UDDIA) to transfer the capital to Brazzaville, since Pointe-Noire was under the influence of the political opposition. Pointe-Noire continued growing, and was the most modern city in 1960, when Congo gained independence. Then, the oil discovery around 1980 re-attracted people and Elf-Aquitaine facilities. The population doubled by 1982, and reached 360,000 in 1994. Civil wars in 1997 and 1999 caused an influx of refugees from
540-460: The site of Ponta Negra instead of Libreville as originally envisaged. In 1923, it was chosen to be the terminus of the Congo-Ocean Railway (CFCO). In 1927, drinking water became available in the city, which had about 3,000 inhabitants. The airport was built in 1932. In 1934, Governor Raphael Antonetti inaugurated the Congo-Ocean Railway . The first hospital was built in 1936. That same year, Bank of West Africa (BAO) opened its first branch in
567-634: The surrounding provinces ( Lékoumou , Niari , Bouenza , Pool ) towards Pointe-Noire, causing the population to climb to over 1 million inhabitants. Recently the Government has proposed the development of a new bulk resource port to be constructed at Point Indienne , 30 kilometres (19 mi) to the north of the Port of Pointe-Noire. A meeting was held on 18 December 2012 with a collective of 10 Congo government ministries and invited mining companies to discuss future development opportunities. Pointe-Noire
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#1732773347241594-467: The École supérieure de commerce et de gestion (Business), Institut UCAC-ICAM (Engineering) and the Centre d’éducation, de formation et d’apprentissage en mécanique auto (Automotive Engineering). The Higher Institute of Technology of Central Africa has a campus in the city. There are also several other institutions of higher education in the city. As a result of the decentralisation policy put in place by
621-538: Was able to escape and stage a counterattack. Thus began a 4-month civil war that destroyed or damaged much of the capital. In early October 1997, Angolan troops invaded Congo on the side of Sassou. Most of Brazzaville fell to rebel and Angolan forces on 14 October 1997, and Lissouba fled; within two days the capital was under the control of forces loyal to Sassou Nguesso, and Pointe-Noire fell with little resistance. Sassou Nguesso proclaimed himself President on 25 October 1997, but militia forces loyal to Lissouba continued
648-513: Was appointed Minister of State for Planning, then for Agriculture (1968–1969), before being sacked by the government. Afterwards, he became a genetics professor at the University of Brazzaville (1966–1971) and later director of the Ecole Supérieure des Sciences in 1970. When Massamba-Débat was overthrown in 1968 Lissouba remained in government under Marien Ngouabi and although he was suspended from political activity from 1969 to 1971 he
675-605: Was forced to move the Congo towards democracy in 1991, Lissouba returned in February 1992 and was elected president in the August 1992 elections . He secured 36% of the vote as head of the left-wing Pan-African Union for Social Democracy ( Union panafricaine pour la démocratie sociale , UPADS). In the run-off with second-placed Bernard Kolelas , Lissouba got 61% of the vote. Conflict soon broke out however. A coalition of opposition groups and their militias accused Lissouba of rigging
702-484: Was home to a potash exploitation which led to the construction of a wharf , currently closed to the public. Lycée Français Charlemagne , a French international school for primary and secondary school children, is in Pointe-Noire. It also hosts a British international school for children aged 0 to 18 years, called Connie's Academy. The city is home to the École Supérieure de Technologie du Littoral (technology)
729-720: Was on the Central Committee of the Congolese Workers Party in 1973. In 1977, he was implicated for involvement in the assassination of Ngouabi and was arrested. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and hard labour in 1977. He was released in 1979 but had to live in exile in France from 1979 to 1990. In France, he was a professor of genetics at the University of Paris and then worked for UNESCO in Paris and Nairobi . When President Denis Sassou Nguesso
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