Strategic context
Three decades after the Brazzaville accords revived regional expectations, the Republic of the Congo is refining its security tools through exercises that blend theory, technology and coalition tactics. The sixth Military Maneuver School, code-named “Tambo”, offered rare insight into how doctrine becomes operational prudence.
Conducted from 22 to 31 August 2025 at the Marien-Ngouabi Military Academy in northern Brazzaville, MANECO-6 assembled 353 participants across army, air, naval and internal security branches. Officials framed the exercise as a response to hypothesis seven of national defense planning: the preservation of public order amidst cross-border crime.
A multilateral classroom
Invited officers from Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Central African Republic, Guinea, Mali, Niger and Togo injected a collegiate atmosphere rare in purely national drills. According to Brigadier General Charles-Victoire Bantadi, their presence validated Congo-Brazzaville’s reputation as a regional hub for doctrinal harmonisation.
Shared lecture halls, sand-table simulations and bilingual briefings compelled young captains to navigate differing rules of engagement, an experience that mirrors field realities along porous borders. Observers from the African Union described the academic layer as a force multiplier that amplifies interoperability long after diplomas are conferred.
Digital backbone
Unlike previous iterations, Tambo operated on a newly installed intranet linking command posts, logistics depots and forward observation cells. Colonel-Major Jean-Pierre Bouka explained that the secure mesh allowed encrypted video, meteorological feeds and drone imagery to circulate instantaneously, shrinking the traditional fog of war during decision-making cycles.
Technicians drawn from the Congo’s Science and Technology University maintained the server farm, signalling tighter civil-military ties in the digital domain. Faculty members suggested that future manoeuvres may integrate artificial intelligence for predictive logistics, a prospect welcomed by private telecom executives attending as technical observers.
Operational scenario and objectives
Planners simulated a mixed-force task group reclaiming a liquido-terrestrial border corridor menaced by illicit trafficking networks allegedly supported by elements from a neighbouring state. The scenario obliged staffs to synchronise kinetic pressure with judicial, customs and forestry interventions, reflecting the multidimensional character of modern security governance.
Daily injects, such as sudden refugee flows or cyber disruptions of radio towers, tested crisis anticipation methods. According to an internal after-action note reviewed by this magazine, nearly 90 percent of tactical decisions met the timelines set by doctrine, a significant improvement over the fifth edition’s 72 percent.
Diplomacy and regional security
Beyond pure military value, Tambo served diplomatic messaging. Analysts in Yaoundé and Libreville interpreted the exercise as evidence that Brazzaville remains committed to collective security architectures, including the Central African Early Warning System, at a moment when non-state violence risks spilling across Equatorial trade arteries.
French defence attaché Claire Morin, speaking off the record, noted that the presence of observers from the United States and China illustrated growing external interest in Gulf of Guinea littoral stability. She labelled Congo’s decision to open its classrooms rather than its barracks as ‘smart power in practice’.
Observations from leadership
During the closing ceremony, Defence Minister Charles-Richard Mondjo congratulated trainees for demonstrating what he described as ‘operational solidarity anchored in republican values’. Standing beside General Guy Blanchard Okoï, he argued that training dividends justify sustained budgetary protection even under volatile hydrocarbon revenues.
General Okoï emphasised that the academy’s evolving syllabus remains congruent with the African Standby Force doctrine. He insisted that Congo-Brazzaville does not seek projection of force beyond cooperative mandates, a statement welcomed by regional diplomats keen to dispel any misreading of the exercise’s asymmetrical scenario.
Looking ahead
Planners are already drafting the seventh edition, expected to integrate riverine drones for securing the Congo and Oubangui waterways. Academic director Colonel Brice Ndinga hinted that a memorandum with the University of Pretoria could expand legal modules on detention of maritime traffickers, completing the whole-of-government approach.
Meanwhile, instructors will audit feedback collected through the intranet’s interactive dashboard to recalibrate scenarios. The objective, as one major put it, is to ensure that ‘the slide projector of yesterday becomes the simulated theatre of tomorrow’, without inflating costs or diluting doctrinal clarity.
External partners seem prepared to accompany that evolution. The European Union’s security and defence delegation in Kinshasa has reportedly proposed a modest grant for language laboratories, stressing that functional multilingualism remains essential if mixed task forces aspire to deploy under African Union or United Nations mandates.
Yet the core message of Tambo endures: cohesive training is the currency of credible deterrence. By embedding technology, multinational pedagogy and civic oversight into a single drill, Brazzaville projects a measured confidence that resonates beyond parades and communiqués, anchoring security within an architecture of shared responsibility.
Government planners intend to dovetail future exercises with the National Development Plan 2022-2026, linking military preparedness to economic corridors such as the Pointe-Noire-Ouesso highway. Officials argue that safeguarding trade arteries accelerates diversification strategies championed by President Denis Sassou Nguesso.
