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DRC: Tshisekedi, the mythical opponent of the Mobutian and kabilist regimes!

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[BIOGRAPHY] – Etienne Tshisekedi, whom some affectionately called “Ya Tshitshi”, the father of democracy, the sphinx of Limete, was a great rallyer. A mythical and historical opponent. But who was he? What was his political background and impact on the DRC?

Étienne Tshisekedi wa Mulumba, was born in Kananga on December 14, 1932, then Luluabourg in the Belgian Congo. He is the first law graduate in the country. Already in 1960, he was a member of the College of Commissioners-General, a provisional government set up by Joseph-Désiré Mobutu after a coup d’etat, as assistant to the Commissioner for Justice, Marcel Lihau.

Political career
Tshisekedi was first close to former President Mobutu between 1960 and 1965. Then, he opposed the dictatorial regime of Mobutu in 1980, when it weakened after the wars of Shaba (dismembered Katanga province). ).

In 1982, Tshisekedi is an initiator and one of the founders of the UDPS. With the advent of the democratic transition, he successively occupied the post of Prime Minister of Zaire from 29 September to 1 October 1991, from 15 August 1992 to 18 March 1993 and from 02 to 09 April 1997.

The advent of the AFDL with Mzee Laurent Désiré Kabila in May 1997 will not prevent him from continuing his fight for democracy. For having violated the decision of Mobutu’s rapper on the prohibition of the activities of political parties, Etienne Tshisekedi will receive, in 1998, an authoritarian sanction of the new President of the Republic. It will be his relegation to his home village in Kabeya Kamwanga with equipment and seeds to start farming.

At the end of the second Congo war (1998-2003), Étienne Tshisekedi, who has always advocated non-violent political struggle, refuses to participate in the transitional government and has since been playing the role of the irreducible opponent. Consequence: boycott of the constitutional referendum of 2005 and the elections of 2006.

What to understand that his opposition did not stop at the practices decried of Mobutu. It extended to those of Kabila’s father and son regime.

On December 23, 2011, after the presidential election, Tshisekedi who came second, claimed victory, and proclaimed himself President of the Republic to swear an oath from his residence in Limete Kinshasa.

The illness was right for this great politician. In July 2014, Tshisekedi left the DRC for Belgium for health problems. His medico-political exile ends in 2016 and he is greeted triumphantly by the people in Kinshasa.

It’s the eve of the elections. Political negotiations are linked to a second term of Joseph Kabila. With the failure of pre-negotiations with the presidential camp, Tshisekedi will refuse to participate in September 2016 in the national dialogue. It took the Congolese Catholic bishops to take the hand to finally accept to participate in direct talks with the Kinshasa regime.

The conclusion of the political agreement of the New Year’s Eve consecrates the appointment of Etienne Tshisekedi as president of the National Council of follow-up of the agreement (CNSA), charged in particular to supervise the smooth running of the electoral process in progress. Because, the presidential 2016 has been postponed.

Patriarch Tshisekedi dies on February 1, 2017 of a pulmonary embolism, without having been invested in his last functions.

Two years after his death, funerals worthy of his rank are organized. Congolese remember him as one who has long fought for democracy in the DRC.
His soul can finally rest in peace!

Nadine FULA

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DRC: Célestin Mukeba’s major achievements in ten years of leadership at EquityBCDC

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Célestin Mukeba is leaving EquityBCDC to pursue new socio-economic objectives for the community. The announcement was made by the Equity Group.

After ten years of leadership at the head of this bank, he has many achievements to his credit.

From Procredit Bank to Equity and now the merger that led to EquityBCDC, this expert has multiplied the value of the bank’s balance sheet assets by 30.

Under his reign, he has democratized access to financial services, banking over 1.8 million customers. He increased the bank’s net profitability from 3.1 million to over 100 million USD.

Under his leadership, the bank’s growth has been further consolidated. The bank’s assets are already approaching 5 billion, and financing for the economy is growing.

There has also been strong customer interest. After the merger, the bank went from almost 900,000 bank accounts to around 2.4 million today.

What’s more, it has invested heavily in the social welfare of the Congolese people. And very recently, during a ceremony to present the 2023 annual report, Célestin Mukeba received a trophy for achieving 10 years at the head of this Bank.

“I’ve been running Equity since 2015, and I was the architect of the merger. Long before that, I was CEO of Procredit and then DGA since 2008. I have a total of 16 years in the bank’s senior management. After the merger, the Board of Directors and the Group trusted me to lead this department. For me, it’s a feeling of pride and gratitude, firstly to Almighty God, and secondly to our valued customers”, declared Célestin Mukeba during the ceremony.

An exceptional career

Célestin Mukeba Muntuabu completed his entire university education in Kinshasa, graduating with a master’s degree in business management from the Université Protestante au Congo (UPC). These studies were reinforced by training in banking management techniques, this time in Germany.

In 2022, he graduated from Harvard Business School. As an alumnus of Harvard Business School, where he holds a degree in the Advanced Management Program, Célestin Mukeba was selected as the best student of his AMP201 class, representing the cohort of 147 participants from 43 countries worldwide.

He has a wealth of experience in the banking sector, and has held various positions of great responsibility, notably with Procredit Bank Congo, including that of Deputy General Manager in 2008.
That was on November 4, 2008, the day he was appointed Managing Director of ProCredit Bank.

Raised to the rank of Managing Director in 2014, he is leading the Holding’s search for shareholders likely to continue the bank’s activities in Congo, following its decision to withdraw from Africa.

The process led to its takeover and integration into the Equity Group, a pan-African bank based in Kenya and present in seven countries.

Logically, Célestin Mukeba retained his position after the takeover.

A few years later, he successfully completed the merger between Equity and Banque Commerciale du Congo, then a Belgian bank. In addition to the complexities of managing teams with very different corporate cultures, there was the more prosaic need to migrate the IT system.

He also headed the UN Global Compact Network RDC. He is married with two sons and a daughter.

On his X page, he announced his departure from this major banking institution to pursue new objectives with socio-economic impact for the community. He says he has turned an important page in his professional career.

Nadine FULA

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DRC: USD 58 million down payment to oil distributors for loss of earnings

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Through the Minister of Finance, Doudou Fwamba Likunde Li-Botayi, the central government has announced the payment of $58 million, a first instalment of shortfalls, to all oil tanker corporations in all distribution zones.

The announcement was made at a meeting held on Monday November 4, 2024 by the Minister of Finance with a delegation of oil companies representing the various distribution zones in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

According to the Minister of Finance, this payment is part of the Government’s efforts to clear, in instalments and as quickly as possible, the revenue shortfalls for the 2023 financial year.

He also reassured oil companies that the next instalment would be paid shortly.

“Doudou Fwamba Likunde Li-Botayi declared: “The process of clearing these shortfalls is irreversible, and the Government’s various commitments, made through the Ministry of the Economy, will be honored in the interests of all parties.

AGNES KAYEMBE

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Africa: start-ups raised USD 254 million in October 2024

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The platform Africa: The Big Deal recently published the monthly financial report on African start-ups.

According to the report, in October 2024, African start-ups raised $254 million, a record for this month since 2019 as forty-two (42) companies raised financing despite a global context of tightening liquidity.

Indeed, these figures, places October as the second best month of 2024, after July, with an increase of almost 50% compared to the average of the last 12 months, a contrast to the global trend.
“The main highlight of the month was the transaction by Moniepoint, a Nigerian fintech, which closed a $110 million Series C financing round, representing 43% of the total raised in October. This fund-raising, one of the largest in the sector, could establish Moniepoint as the eighth African unicorn, a title reserved for companies valued at over one billion dollars. Other major deals of the month included the $42 million raised by BasiGo in Series A, and the $33 million obtained by cryptocurrency exchange platform Yellow Card in Series C.

In addition, the report notes that since the beginning of 2024, African start-ups have raised a total of $1.7 billion, spread over 393 deals exceeding $100,000, although this performance remains down 32% on the previous year.

Of these, 137 transactions exceeded the million-dollar mark, a year-on-year decline of 20%, reflecting the persistent tensions in the financing of technology start-ups.

AGNES KAYEMBE

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