Happy TravellerWelcome to Pointe-Noire, the second largest city in the Republic of the Congo and the main commercial center of the country. Situated on a headland between Pointe-Noire Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, this bustling city has a population of over 1 million when the entire metropolitan area is taken into account. Pointe-Noire has a tropical savanna climate with a wet season from October through April and a dry season for the remaining 5 months. The city receives roughly 1,000 millimeters of precipitation annually with average temperatures around 24 degrees Celsius during the dry season and 28 degrees Celsius during the wet season.
The city’s coat of arms features gold at the point of sand accompanied by two silver oars, 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 districts (arrondissements): Patrice Emery Lumumba district, the oldest area and the administrative and commercial center, Mvou-Mvou, Tié-Tié, Loandjili district, Mongo-Pokou district, and Ngoyo district.
The name Pointe-Noire (Black Point) originated with Portuguese navigators who saw 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 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 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).
Pointe-Noire is the essential center 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. The city is home to several institutions of higher education, including the École Supérieure de Technologie du Littoral (technology), the École supérieure de commerce et de gestion (Business), Institut UCAC-ICAM (Engineering), the Centre d’éducation, de formation et d’apprentissage en mécanique auto (Automotive Engineering), and the Higher Institute of Technology of Central Africa.
Pointe-Noire is home to Agostinho-Neto International Airport, which as of May 2015 had direct flights to Abidjan, Addis Ababa, Brazzaville, Casablanca, Cotonou, Douala, Kinshasa–NDjili, Libreville, Lomé, Malabo, Paris–Charles de Gaulle, Port-Gentil, and Johannesburg–O. R. Tambo and was the second busiest airport in 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. Pointe-Noire has a taxi-bus network that runs throughout the entire city.
Come visit Pointe-Noire and experience the vibrant culture, rich history, and stunning landscapes of this dynamic city in the heart of Central Africa.
