The Nabemba Tower, also known as Elf Tower, is a high-rise office block in

Brazzaville Brazzaville (, kg, Kintamo, Nkuna, Kintambo, Ntamo, Mavula, Tandala, Mfwa, Mfua; Teke: ''M'fa'', ''Mfaa'', ''Mfa'', ''Mfoa''Roman Adrian Cybriwsky, ''Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture'', ABC-CLI ...

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...

, located directly on the

Congo River The Congo River ( kg, Nzâdi Kôngo, french: Fleuve Congo, pt, Rio Congo), formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the second largest river in the world by discharge ...

in the south of the city. At 106 metres and 30 floors it is the tallest building in the Republic of the Congo. It is named after

Mont Nabemba Mont Nabemba is the highest mountain in Republic of the Congo. Located in Sangha Department around fifty kilometres from the town of Souanké, the mountain has an elevation of . Nabemba Tower in Brazzaville is named after the mountain.

, the highest mountain in the country. The tower was built with borrowed funds from the French oil company

Elf Aquitaine Elf Aquitaine is a French brand of oils and other motor products (such as brake fluids) for automobiles and trucks. Elf is a former petroleum company which merged with TotalFina to form "TotalFinaElf". The new company changed its name to Total in ...

. The tower was designed by Jean Marie Legrand during the government's five-year plan and was built between 1983 and 1986. Various ministries and charities' offices are housed in the tower, such as the African Self-help Development Initiative, the New Partnership for African Development, and UNESCO. Nabemba Tower was inaugurated by President

Denis Sassou Nguesso Denis Sassou Nguesso (born 23 November 1943) is a Congolese politician and former military officer. He became president of the Republic of the Congo in 1997. He served a previous term as president from 1979 to 1992. During his first period as p ...

on 3 February 1990.

Criticism

Nabemba Tower was severely damaged in 1997 during the Republic of the Congo Civil War. When President Sassou Nguesso returned to power, however, the building was rebuilt at the exorbitant cost of £16,000,000. This was more than the entire initial construction cost.

funded work on the building, which was assigned to a start-up company in Congo led by two French brothers without any qualifications in company management, nor in the techniques of building construction, civil engineering, or even architectural expertise. Each year, the maintenance alone of the tower costs the equivalent of £3,000,000, a significant cost for what is still a relatively poor country. The local architect Norbert Mbila describes Nabemba Tower as "a symbolic building, built purely for prestige. It is neither necessary nor useful, as it swallows up a lot in maintenance costs."

References

{{coord, 4.27212, S, 15.2891, E, source:dewiki_region:CG_type:landmark, format=dms, display=title Buildings and structures in Brazzaville TotalEnergies Office buildings completed in 1986 Skyscrapers in Africa