This information is derived from the State Department's Office of Investment Affairs, Investment Climate Statement. Any questions on the ICS can be directed to EB-ICS-DL@state.gov
Last Published: 7/18/2017

Corruption is rampant and widely practiced in the Republic of Congo, although government officials do not acknowledge it. Companies operating in the oil sector have consistently complained about ingrained corruption practices.
 
The Republic of Congo has a specific law to combat corruption by public officials, called the Law Against Corruption, Bribery, and Fraud (“Loi contre la Corruption, la Concussion et la Fraude”). However, in practice the law is not effective in fighting corruption.  The Republic of Congo ranks 177 out of 190 countries in the World Bank’s “Ease of Doing Business” rankings, and 159 out of 176 countries in Transparency International’s “Corruption Perceptions Index 2016”.

The corruption law does not extend to family members of officials, or to political parties. It targets individuals and elected or appointed officials in particular. Additionally, there are no specific laws or regulations that counter conflict-of-interest in awarding contracts or government procurement.

The Republic of Congo government is not known to encourage or require private companies to establish internal codes of conduct that, among other things, prohibit bribery of public officials. Some private companies, in particular subsidiaries of western international groups, use internal controls, ethics, and compliance programs to detect and prevent bribery of government officials.

The Republic of Congo is a state party to the UN Anticorruption Convention; however, the government does not provide protection to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in general, let alone to NGOs involved in investigating corruption.

Resources to Report Corruption

Contact at government agency or agencies are responsible for combating corruption:
-NAME: Emmanuel Ollita Ondongo
-TITLE: President
-ORGANIZATION: Observatoire Anti-Corruption
-ADDRESS: Centre Ville, Brazzaville
-TELEPHONE NUMBER: 06 944 6165, 05 551 2229
-EMAIL ADDRESS: emmallita2007@yahoo.fr

Contact at "watchdog" organization
-NAME: Christian Mounzeo
-TITLE: President
-ORGANIZATION: Rencontre pour la Paix et les Droits de l’Homme (attempt to become the local representative of Transparency International).
-ADDRESS: Tchimbamba, Pointe-Noire

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