Chemin de iron Congo-Ocean

The railroad Congo-Ocean ( CFCO ) is approximately a 510 km long railway line, located in the République of Congo which connects the port of Point-Black on the Atlantic Ocean to Brazzaville on the river Congo. It was built under the French colonial administration between 1921 and 1934 at the price of many human lives.

The construction of this line was the work of Company of construction of Batignolles. Undertaken in 1921, it was a “appalling consumer of human lives”, according to André Gide in his book Voyage to Congo .

The CFCO is currently a government enterprise whose Privatization was projected within the framework of the commitments entered into by the Congolese government towards the the World Bank and the Fonds international currency. Among the candidates several consortia appeared of which Congo-Rail (constituted by the groups Bolloré Investissement, Maersk and National company of the railroads French) and the South-African consortium Sheltam Mvela.

The movement of travellers was stopped in April 2002 in consequence of attacks related to the civil war. It took again in January 2004, but the CFCO underwent other attacks since.

“It is necessary to read again Albert London or Andre Gide. in Ground of ebony and Return to Congo , they recall that the construction of the railway line Congo-Ocean caused the death of 17000 people because of the forced labor. In 1930, France, like Spain and Portugal refused to ratify international convention against the forced labor. And it is only into 1946 that the forced labor will be interdict in the colonies. Colonization rested on a permanent state of exception against the natives. ” (Olivier the Grandmaison Court, professor of political science of the University Evry-Valley-in the Essonne, author To colonize, exterminate, on the war and the colonial State (Beech 2005) - quotation extracted from a maintenance granted to the Barber Magazine December 17th, 2005 page 24.)

External bonds

  • Mvougouti, fifteenth birthday of a forgotten railway tragedy: In the night of September 5th, 1991, a train of the mining Company of Ogoué of Gabon (Comilog) ran up against a passenger train of the CFCO, causing hundreds of victims.

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