P R 180707Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY BRAZZAVILLE
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1389
INFO AMEMBASSY PARIS 
DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC
AMEMBASSY BRAZZAVILLE

UNCLAS BRAZZAVILLE 000146 
 
 
DEPT FOR AF/C, AF/EX, AF/PAPD, AF/RSA, PM 
PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS 
HHS FOR CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV ECON SOCI EAID TBIO CF
SUBJECT: BRAZZAVILLE IN BRIEF - MAY 15, 2009 
 
¶1.  Presidential campaign is heating up:  Although local press 
has remained mysteriously silent about the fact, a fire in the 
Republic of Congo's (ROC) President Sassou Nguesso's home 
village of Edou this past week destroyed at least two vehicles 
and a stockpile of election materials.  International press has 
picked up the story and is saying that the election materials 
were mainly left-over supplies from the 2007 legislative 
elections but rumors as saying the materials were to be used in 
the July 12 presidential election.  Either way, the fire did not 
put a dent in the President's visit to the northern reaches of 
the Congo where he inaugurated a stadium and market in Owando 
and kicked off the construction of a hydroelectric dam in Ngo. 
A large turnout of the population greeted him at each stop. 
Each admirer is purportedly paid the equivalent of US$4 and 
walks away with a clean t-shirt. 
 
¶2.  Influenza preparedness:  The Director of the ROC National 
Laboratory confirmed there are no/no cases of H1N1 in the ROC. 
The Ministry of Health has been very proactive and is working 
with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the 
World Health Organization (WHO) to prepare for its inevitable 
arrival.  At present, ROC has 100 courses of Tamiflu on order 
and the Ministry of Health has submitted a request for 
additional stockpiles to the regional office of the WHO.  The 
CDC has provided the National Laboratory with an Applied 
Biosystem's Real Time PCR machine and detection reagents are en 
route to Brazzaville.  Once the reagents arrive, Applied 
Biosystems will dispatch a technician to Brazzaville to provide 
training to staff at National Lab.  The director anticipates 
that the PCR H1N1 detection system will be fully operational by 
the end of July 2009.  Currently, the ROC has taken no specific 
measures to prevent the arrival of H1N1 in country.  No special 
screening systems have been set up at the airport and the ROC 
does not envision trying to reduce its exposure by limiting 
travel or commerce with countries with confirmed cases of H1N1. 
Should H1N1 infection rates spike in Europe or in any 
neighboring country, however, the ROC has plans in place to 
monitor and track the infection in country. 
 
¶3.  Congo-B is not giving away the farm: ConOff met with the 
Office Director at Ministry of Agriculture, Jean Fulgence 
Mouangou, to discuss the recently announced South African 
farming project in Congo-Brazzaville.  Congo-Brazzaville and the 
South African farm group, Agri SA are in negotiations to bring 
South African farmers to the Republic of Congo to restart local 
commercial farming.  Recent press articles have reported that 
South African farmers were "flocking" to Congo-B for their share 
of the 10 million hectares that are allegedly up for grabs.  The 
chairman of Agri SA, Andre Botha, was also quoted as saying that 
both the French and the American embassies were opposed to the 
deal.  Mouangou reported that negotiations were still in a 
preliminary phase, but that discussions were underway with Agri 
SA to re-start several state owned farms that had been abandoned 
in the wake of the transition away from the Marxist-Leninist 
People's Republic of Congo in 1992.  Mouangou said that the 
press had grossly overstated the amount of land available as 10 
million hectares is actually the entire agricultural potential 
of the Republic of the Congo. Mouangou went on to say that the 
allegations against the French and the Americans were baseless. 
He claimed that the allegations came from Agri SA and said they 
had since been retracted.  Mouangou reported that the GROC had 
requested a formal explanation of the statements.  The actual 
details of the deal between Agri SA and Congo-Brazzaville are 
still under negotiation.  At present, Congo-Brazzaville and Agri 
SA have signed a "declaration of intentions," but have not yet 
moved forward with a formal contract agreement.  The formal 
contract agreement will most likely be a concessionary agreement 
granting Agri SA a temporary lease to operate the state farms. 
Mouvangou said that Agri SA would be required to employ local 
farmers and the contract would include a technology and skills 
transfer clause.  Mouangou expected formal negotiations to 
recommence as early as 18 May upon the Minister of Agriculture's 
return from Paris. 
 
GREGG