The markets of the Congo. Acts 1: The Total Market
Hello and welcome to Niochi. Today we bring you to the discovery or rather rediscovery of the Total market. Settle down well!
But before you do, get a glimpse of what you need to know about the markets in Congo. First, trade is based on the sale of local or imported products and goods. Second, selling in the market is largely a women’s activity. Men concentrate on selling certain products as or rather goods. And it’s great fun, for example, when you find a man marketing a product that women are known to be a specialty seller, it really makes you smile. And finally, you have to know that the vast majority of the population does its market on a day-to-day basis.
The largest market in Brazzaville and of unequal importance
Located in the second borough of the city. Bacongo one of the very first with Poto-Poto was the center of urban life, and especially animated. Bacongo is well known for its sappers (Yeah, that’s where the sapper was born), on the famous Matsoua Avenue, called “Fashion Corridor”. And also for the best malewa de corners of the city (small makeshift restaurants), like Lampadaire or (another malewas), famous restaurants like Maman Julie, the atmosphere, and the fighting spirit. Legend has it that the people of Bac’s (as an abbreviation of Bacongo) are hard workers.
Bacongo, a neighborhood known for fashion
For the record, the Total market was created in the 1980s. It began to develop thanks to the establishment of the first Total service station on Avenue Matsoua, to which it owes its name. It started to develop very quickly. The Total market replaced that of Tâ N’goma in the mid-1950s. With the development of the capital city and the creation of new districts, Brazzaville has several markets, one main one in each of the nine (9) districts. Thanks to its positioning in the center of the southern part of Brazzaville, the Total market remains the most important in the Congolese capital.
It reflects quite well the Congolese way of life. In such a large market, don’t go alone for the first time or you’ll get lost.
The market extends over a large surface
In 2016, it is refurbished and consists of two floors with a little over 2083 tables, and hosts many merchants. Although the new building is not very busy. Merchants prefer certain corners, arguing that customers are scarcer on the floors and have great difficulty finding their way to the market.
If someone tells you, you’ll find yourself at the Total Market, it’s bound to be a trap. It’s pretty hard to find your way around. The market is spread over a large area, and it’s divided into sectors.
You have the Total Tayiti sector. Tayiti is one of the first famous and chic neighborhoods in Bacongo with the construction in the 1950s of state-subsidized housing. It is also said that Tayiti represented leisure and society in Brazzaville thanks to a famous old bar that existed at the time.
Then you have the Total Rio sector. Rio was a movie theater, the most famous one in Brazzaville. Finally, you have the Total Station sector. Of course, in connection with the Total Station, right next door.
At the Total Market, you’ll find a bit of everything!
From food, through clothing, household appliances, electronics, building. In principle, each type of goods occupies a separate section over a certain area, but this is not always very obvious.
The Total Market serves the vast majority of the city’s other markets with agricultural products from local producers. The earlier you come, the more likely you are to get fresh produce, and the value for money is just excellent!
The Total Market is also a bus station, the largest public transport hub in Brazzaville. No wonder to see the stalls on the highway, to reach customers faster. So customers don’t have to go to the market to get the products they are looking for.
If you are at the Total Market. You can take a bus that takes you to any corner of Brazzaville.
Today the Total market for us is more than just a market. It’s part of our cultural heritage. The Total Market is monumental. It represents quite well our way of life, the heart of the city, and Congolese life.
