Leaders of public and private companies, artists, entrepreneurs, scientists, sportsmen and women, etc., the 50 Congolese personalities on this list have distinguished themselves in their respective fields, enabling them to be promoted to new positions or receive awards for their brilliant achievements. Focus on 50 Congolese men and women who shone in 2023.
NB: The personalities on this list have been placed at random. Their ranking is not synonymous with the importance of one personality over another.
Jean Lengo Dia-Ndinga, head of the Ledya Group, which comprises several companies active in various sectors (transport, mining, consumer goods, real estate and hotel management, etc.), has been named African Entrepreneur of the Year by Forbes magazine in the USA, in September 2023. The award, explains Forbes, celebrates exemplary leaders: leading businessmen, politicians and dynamic personalities with a track record of profound impact and positive contributions to the development of their countries and sectors of activity.
Considered one of Africa’s most influential women in the mining sector, Marie-Chantal Kaninda was appointed President of Glencore DRC, the Congolese subsidiary of the Swiss multinational commodities trader, in January 2023. Prior to this appointment, the former Executive Director of the World Diamond Council was Vice President Corporate Affairs of Glencore DRC. In addition to being President of Glencore DRC, she is also Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kamoto Copper Company SA (KCC), jointly owned by Glencore (75%) and Gécamines (25%). Marie-Chantal Kaninda is the first woman to hold the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors at KCC.
Elected President of the Fédération des Entreprises du Congo (FEC) on Monday November 27, 2023, Robert Malumba Kalombo succeeded Albert Yuma, who had headed this employers’ organization since 2004. A Congolese businessman who has been active in the private sector for over 30 years, Robert Malumba founded and manages the Mak’s Trading SARL group, active in the building and public works (BTP) sector. Elected for a 4-year term at the head of the FEC, Robert Malumba was, prior to his election, Chairman of the FEC’s national public works commission.
On February 19, 2023, the General Assembly of the African Union appointed Dr. Jean Kaseya, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, as Director General of the Africa CDC for a four-year term. The Congolese doctor, with degrees in epidemiology and community health, has over 25 years’ expertise in public health, having held key positions at national and international level.
As Executive Director of Africa-CDC, Dr. Kaseya oversees the organization’s core political, strategic and technical functions. At the forefront of his agenda is his commitment to advancing a transformative “New Deal” for Africa CDC, with the overarching goal of strengthening health security across the continent.
A specialist in the mining sector, Guy-Robert Lukama Nkunzi was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of Société Générale des Carrières et des Mines (Gécamines) on February 25, 2023, of which he has been a non-executive member since June 2019.
Guy-Robert Lukama holds a bachelor’s degree in international economics and a master’s degree in finance from the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium. Since July 2021, he has been Chairman of the Board of Directors of Société congolaise pour le traitement du terril de Lubumbashi (STL), one of Gécamines’ main assets. In March 2015, Guy-Robert Lukama was appointed Managing Director of Mongbwalu Gold Mines, an Anglo Gold Ashanti project that aims to develop and operate a gold project at Mongbwalu, in the Ituri province of northeastern DRC. He is also Executive Director of Fimosa Capital, based in Mahé, Seychelles, and principal shareholder (86.22%) of Mongbwalu Gold Mines. Fimosa Capital is made up of a consortium of Congolese shareholders.
In May 2023, Eric Kalala was appointed Managing Director of Entreprise générale du cobalt, a subsidiary of state-owned Gécamines, created in 2019 to exercise a purchasing monopoly on artisanally-mined cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Prior to his appointment, Eric Kalala had been Managing Director of Bolloré Africa Logistics in the DRC since March 2019.
Eric Kalala holds a degree in management engineering from the Institute of Administration and Management of the Catholic University of Louvain. He also holds a management degree from HEC-Paris and has completed an Executive General Management Program at Harvard Business School.
Appointed Managing Director of Standard Bank RDC in May 2023, Marie-Gabrielle Opese is also responsible for the bank’s corporate and investment banking activities.
Prior to her appointment, Marie-Gabrielle Opese had been Deputy Managing Director of Standard Bank RDC since April 2020, combining this position with that of Risk & Credit Director and Corporate Secretary, functions she had held since September 2009 when she joined Standard Bank.
Marie-Gabrielle Opese holds a bachelor’s degree in economics, finance and financial management services, with a specialization in financial analysis, from the University of Lubumbashi, and a master’s degree in business administration from Beulah Heights University in Atlanta (USA).
Professor in the Department of Tropical Medicine at the University of Kinshasa, Dr. Vivi Maketa was one of four young scientists honored in November 2023 with the Bayer Foundation Award for Early Excellence in Science for their innovative research in the fields of biology, chemistry, data science and medicine. Dr. Vivi Maketa was recognized in the medical sciences category for her outstanding contributions to the design and implementation of research projects on infectious and neglected diseases. Through her dedicated work, said the Bayer Foundation, she is providing essential evidence of the safety, immunogenicity and efficacy of urgently needed new medicines and vaccines, particularly in low-income countries in Africa and other continents.
Dr. Vivi Maketa defended her doctoral thesis at the University of Antwerp, Belgium, on the theme “The problem of asymptomatic carriage of Plasmodium falciparum in endemic areas”. Plasmodium falciparum is one of the parasites that cause malaria in humans.
Director General of the Institut National de Recherche Biomédicale in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Dr Jean-Jacques Muyembe Tamfum received the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Global Health Leaders Award in May 2023. A full professor of microbiology at the University of Kinshasa’s Faculty of Medicine, the Congolese doctor was recognized for his innovation, leadership and pioneering contributions to the management and treatment of diseases such as Ebola. WHO noted that Dr. Muyembe Tamfum has made a decisive contribution to improving health outcomes in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in Africa and worldwide.
Naturopath Patience Sangwa, originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and previously living in South Africa, has been appointed in January 2023 to head up the new online naturopathy and nutrition consultation program specifically for children at Chiva-Som, one of the world’s leading luxury spa and wellness destinations, located in Thailand.
On 12 June 2023, Father Ngoa Ya Tshihemba, 52, was elected the 11th Superior General of the Augustinians of the Assumption (also known as Assumptionists). This religious congregation currently has 915 religious and 45 novices in 128 communities in 33 countries around the world.
Father Ngoa Ya Tshihemba holds a degree in philosophy and a canonical degree in theology from the Inter-Congregational Training Institute in Mexico City. He was ordained a priest in Butembo on 24 January 2008. He returned to Mexico for four years of pedagogical studies (2009-2013) and obtained a degree in pedagogy.
Before his election, he was based in Manila, in the Philippines, where he was novice master as well as head of formation and superior of a formation house.
A polyglot, he speaks Kinande, his mother tongue, Swahili, Lingala, French, Spanish and English.
Managing Director of Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC), the largest agribusiness in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Monique Gieskes received the Impact Leadership Award from the Nigeria Higher Education Foundation in New York in September 2023. According to the organizers, Monique Gieskes received the award for turning PHC into a profitable business, doubling production within three years, and improving the lives of thousands of employees and their families.
After starting out as an industrial property agent, Monique Gieskes launched the Vlisco Group in the DRC. She also managed the Group’s trademark protection operations in 12 countries in Africa, Asia and Europe, including the Group’s headquarters in the Netherlands.
In addition, Monique Gieskes was the first woman to hold the presidency of the United Nations Global Compact in the DRC, a UN initiative designed to encourage companies to adopt a socially responsible attitude.
In December 2023, Dr. Hervé Lekuya received the “Atos Alves De Sousa Award 2023” for young neurosurgeons from the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies. The award was presented at the opening of the federation’s congress in Cape Town, South Africa.
Dr. Hervé Monka Lekuya is currently a surgeon at the College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, Uganda. Since July 2022, he has also been a doctoral student at Ghent University, Belgium. In March 2022, Dr. Lekuya completed his internship in the Surgical Innovations Laboratory for Skull Base Microsurgery at the “Brain and Spine Center” at Weill Cornell Medicine (USA), under the guidance of trainers Dr. Antonio Bernardo and Dr. Alexander Evins.
Dr. Hervé Lekuya is currently a Neurosurgery Fellow of the College of Surgeons of East, Central, and Southern Africa (COSECSA), as part of a collaboration between the Neurosurgical Society of Uganda and Duke Global Neurology & Neurosurgery (USA), at Mulago Hospital in Kampala, Uganda. He is involved in various neurosurgical research projects, as well as clinical patient care and student teaching at Makerere University.
Dr. Hervé Lekuya brilliantly obtained his medical degree from the University of Kinshasa, thanks to the BEBUC-fUNIKIN Excellence Scholarship, a scholarship program for brilliant young students. Subsequently, he completed several training courses abroad and took part in a number of international seminars.
Author of several articles in prestigious scientific journals, Dr. Hervé Lekuya is an active member of several scientific societies.
The Africa-China Centre for Policy & Advisory (ACCPA) announced on 27 March 2023 the appointment of Dr. Nancy A. Lohalo, based in the DRC, as Senior Researcher.
The Africa-China Centre for Policy and Advice is a Sino-African think tank and consultancy specialising in research and policy. Its aim is to provide impartial political and business research and distinctive perspectives on Africa-China relations. The Centre also offers strategic advice on key issues concerning China and Africa, covering multiple sectors and industries.
Dr. Nancy A. Lohalo, says the centre, spent more than ten years in Beijing, China, where she earned a doctorate in international business (economics) from the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), winning numerous awards for academic excellence. Her areas of research lie at the intersection of international economics and the digital economy, with a particular focus on women’s economic empowerment and international development.
An economist, consultant and associate professor at the Institut supérieur pédagogique de la Gombe (ISP-Gombe) in Kinshasa, Dr Nancy A. Lohalo was a research analyst for an African-led international consultancy before returning to the Congo. Her work focused on assessing China-Africa strategic partnerships, highlighting the need for African countries to understand their development needs and join forces effectively to achieve sustainability. The results of her research have been published in international newspapers and magazines, including the Financial Times and The Economist.
Dr. Nancy A. Lohalo is fluent in Mandarin Chinese, which led her to work as a consultant for a Chinese state-owned company on investment in the telecommunications sector in Congo, as part of the Belt and Road initiative. It is explained that she brought a “Congolese perspective” to determine the feasibility of the project in the country and its potential position on the market.
In July 2023, singer Barbara Kanam was appointed Director General of the Fonds de promotion culturelle, an organisation responsible for funding cultural projects in the DRC. In this position, Barbara Kanam is assisted by the artist Didier Masela, founder and member of the famous Congolese musical group Wenge Musica.
The third Congolese woman pilot in the history of civil aviation in the DR Congo and a human rights activist, Mamitsho Pontshi was appointed Deputy Managing Director of Congo Airways, the national airline of the DRC, on 8 July 2023. Born on 3 January 1985, she has been co-pilot of the Congo Airways Airbus 320 since April 2016, clocking up more than 2,600 flying hours, earning her the nickname of the “patriotic flying leopard”. She was also General Secretary of the National Association of Congo Pilots (ANPC).
Mamitsho Pontshi holds an engineering degree in civil aeronautics from the Institut Supérieur des Techniques Appliquées (ISTA) in Kinshasa. She trained as a pilot in South Africa and the USA before starting her career as a pilot in 2011.
Sylvie Olela Odimba, a Congolese lawyer and current Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of the Electricity Regulatory Authority of the Democratic Republic of Congo (ARE), was appointed Vice-Chairwoman of the Network of French-speaking Energy Regulators (RegulaE.Fr) in November 2023. She will become president of the network at the end of 2024.
A specialist in public procurement and international partnership management, Sylvie Olela Odimba holds a law degree from the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium. She is also vice-president of the general assembly of the East African Energy Regulators Association (EREA) for the period 2023/2024.
In July 2023, Tania Bishola was one of ten winners of the “Women in Africa (WIA) Young Leaders 2023” initiative and the first Congolese woman to take part in this program, which supports and highlights young African women leaders.
A molecular biologist by training, Tania Bishola Tshitenge, 32, is currently a research scientist with the German multinational Bayer, which operates in the pharmaceutical and agrochemical sectors. An associate professor at the University of Kinshasa, she is also co-founder of the Academy of Sciences for Young People in the DRC (ASJ-RDC) and founder and president of the Zoe-Liziba Foundation, an NGO that works through orphanages to help improve the living conditions of orphaned and vulnerable children.
The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) announced on 10 May 2023 that Congolese professional footballer Distel Zola, 34, has been appointed a high-level advocate for healthy meals and better nutrition in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In this capacity, Distel Zola is using his professional status to raise awareness among young people of healthy eating, school meals and the prevention of malnutrition.
A former Congolese international footballer, Distel Zola played for Monaco, France, Turkey and the United States. He plays for the Barbagiuans, a charity team owned by Prince Albert of Monaco. In 2021, he and his wife, Lorraine Lemaire, launched the Banazola Foundation to offer a better future to Congolese children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
On 20 July 2023, the President of the United Nations General Assembly, Csaba Kőrösi, announced the names of the 5 laureates of the prestigious United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights for 2023, including Congolese activist Julienne Lusenge. Created by the UN General Assembly in 1966, the Prize was awarded for the first time in 1968, on what is now known as Human Rights Day, 10 December. It is awarded every five years for “outstanding achievements in the field of human rights”.
Julienne Lusenge, explains the UN, is a woman leader, peace builder, human rights activist and ardent defender who has contributed consistently and uncompromisingly to the advancement of women’s rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo for more than 40 years.
Executive director of the Congolese Women’s Fund (FFC) and co-founder and president of the NGO “Solidarité féminine pour la paix et le développement intégral” (SOFEPADI) in Ituri province, Julienne Lusenge was appointed a member of the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture in November 2023.
Founder of the “La Kinoise” coffee brand, the Congolese entrepreneur won the World Farmers’ Trophy for her robusta coffee at the 2023 International Agricultural Show in Paris. The Congolese coffee won the award for its unique taste.
Tisya Mukuna holds a Master’s degree in marketing from the IÉSEG School of Management in France and an MBA from the Shanghai University of International Studies in China. She runs the company “La Boite”, which produces and markets the “La Kinoise” brand of coffee, 100% from Kinshasa, as well as managing two event centers with 350 and 500 seats.
Manager of BIO-FFA, an organic farm based in the city of Kinshasa, Tony Neppa is the first winner of the Prix Pierre Castel 2023 in the DRC. The Pierre Castel Prize, an annual award for African agricultural entrepreneurship, recognizes the merit of young entrepreneurs whose activities help to build sustainable agriculture and make the most of natural resources while preserving the environment.
Created in 2016, Tony Neppa’s BIO-FFA poultry farm specializes in the production of broiler chicken under the Galina Bio brand. He received a financial endowment of around €15,000, a mentoring program and personalised coaching, as well as $5,000 from Ecobank DRC.
Mamadou MANOKA was the second prizewinner for his project to breed and transform black soldier fly larvae into food for cattle and fish and organic fertilizer for fields. He won a cash prize of €10,000 and a personalized coaching program.
Elie Mbeki, the DRC’s winner of the “Mon idée mon entreprise” (My idea, my business) competition initiated by the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF), took part in the inter-regional finals to be held in Cameroon in June 2023. Competing against representatives from 19 other African countries, the young Congolese entrepreneur won the “Best Female Innovation Award”.
Elie Mbeki is the founder of “épices La Fleur”, a unit that transforms Congolese spices into 100% Congolese and 100% natural culinary broths. The broth offered is a blend of spices, aromatic herbs and certain fruits designed to season food. The flavors available on the market are “Barbecue”, “Crevette” and “Pondu” broths.
Congolese artist-musician Fally Ipupa has set an all-time record, playing back-to-back sold-out concerts in three major European venues in the space of 3 weeks: France’s U-Arena, Europe’s largest venue (40,000 seats); London’s Ovo Arena (12,500 seats) and Belgium’s ING Arena (15,000 seats). “L’aigle”, as he is nicknamed, received a special plaque from U-Arena and ING Arena for his achievement. In 2023, the Congolese artist also won two awards at the Afrima Awards: Best Francophone Artist and Lifetime Achievement Award.
California-based Congolese artist, Gracia “Cianga” Mwamba, was, in June 2023, the co-winner, with Nigerian Feranmi Ariyo, of the first edition of the Evaristo Prize for African Poetry 2023, an annual prize of $1,500 awarded to 10 poems written by an African poet. The prize was originally established as the Brunel International African Poetry Prize (BIAPP) in 2012 by British writer Bernardine Evaristo. The Evaristo Prize was renamed in 2022 and is now administered by the African Poetry Book Fund.
Gracia “Cianga” Mwamba was a semi-finalist in the Cave Canem 2021 Poetry Prize and the Board of Directors Award of the National Federation of State Poetry Societies (NFSPS), USA. She has also received fellowships from UC Berkeley’s Center for Arts and Research, the Brooklyn Poets and completed a residency at the Atlantic Center for the Arts.
As she prepares her first collection, her work is published in Rappahannock Review, Berkeley Fiction Review and on her website (cianga.com).
Gabe Kunda, 29, a full-time voice actor (dubbing), features in the 13th edition of the annual “Forbes 30 Under 30 Changemakers” list, published in November 2023. He is listed in the “Hollywood and Entertainment” category. As a voice actor, Gabe Kunda has worked on video games, done animation, lent his voice to movie trailers (Marvel and Creed 3, among others), done TV promos and voice-overs for advertising. In addition to his work in entertainment, Gabe Kunda has used his voice for commercials for major brands such as Toyota, Mastercard, Subway, CNN, TBS, Disney Plus, Warner Bros, Universal Pictures, Apple, Paramount and Hulu. He has also lent his voice to teasers for the NBA and the Oscars.
In April 2023, Auxence AKonkwa Muhigwa won the Catalyst Grant Award, a program launched in 2021 by the Mandela Washington Fellowship that aims to address the challenges of poverty by developing proven solutions and bringing long-term benefits to communities and countries.
An expert in the agricultural value chain, Auxence Akonkwa is the founder and CEO of the Center for Youth Emancipation and Development (CYED), where he produces high-quality, cholesterol-free soybean oil. This product addresses the health problems in his community associated with imported high-cholesterol cooking oils. Auxence Akonkwa holds a Master’s degree in Purchasing and Supply Chain Management from Makerere University in Uganda.
The three entrepreneurs in digital technology and circular agriculture have been named winners of the DRC Agribusiness Innovation Challenge, a startup competition run by IFC to support small-scale agricultural businesses and farmers, and the development of climate-smart agriculture in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Each winner received financial support ranging from $10,000 to $25,000, as well as technical support to develop their activities and foster economic development in the DRC’s agricultural sector. Nearly 150 companies from all over the country applied.
Déborah Nzarubara, who won first prize in the competition, is the founder of Green Community Mind, a women-led start-up that has developed an app linking beekeepers to their customers, enabling beekeepers to receive technical advice and market information, and remotely monitor their hives for temperature, predators and the ideal time for harvesting.
Christian Mugicho, founder and managing director of Kivu Kuku Poultry Farm, came second in the competition. Kivu Kuku Poultry Farm is transforming the way poultry farming is done with its innovative “chicken bank” system, which includes a solar-powered cold store and the recycling of organic waste to produce biogas.
Chadrack Itsia came third in the competition. He is the founder of Bilanga Solutions, which operates a web and mobile platform enabling farmers to access markets more easily.
Eminent defender of the fight against corruption in the DRC, Jean Claude Mputu Ingole has been proclaimed one of the world’s greatest anti-corruption champions by the US State Department, on the occasion of International Anti-Corruption Day, celebrated every December 9.
Jean Claude Mputu Ingole is deputy director of Resource Matters and spokesman for the coalition Le Congo n’est pas à Vendre (CNPAV).
This prestigious award, organized by the Bureau for International Narcotics and Crime Control Affairs, is presented for his outstanding leadership, indomitable courage and the considerable impact he has had in preventing, denouncing and combating corruption in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) announced on December 8, 2023 that Petronille Vaweka is the recipient of the 2023 Women Building Peace Award. This prestigious international award, presented annually, recognizes women who demonstrate extraordinary commitment, leadership and impact, working to build peace and resolve violent conflict in their communities.
The USIP Women Building Peace Council, made up of leading experts and advisors, selected three finalists and the winner from over 150 nominations received from 42 countries.
Pétronille Waweka is the principal mediator of “Femmes engagées pour la paix en Afrique” (FEPA), a network of women working in the conflict zones of eastern DRC. As a national deputy in the transition from 2004 to 2008, Pétronille Waweka was one of the main negotiators with armed groups and was a trainer and manager in the country’s national stabilization and reconstruction program for over 10 years.
In May 2023, Sarah Akake, a student currently studying for a degree in chemical engineering at the University of Oklahoma, USA, received the prestigious Outstanding Junior Research Award from her university. This recognition, it was reported, testifies to Sarah Akake’s hard work, perseverance and academic excellence. A former student at Mont-Amba school, Sarah Akake is a BEBUC scholarship holder, a program aimed at strengthening human capacity for teaching and research in academic institutions in the DRC.
In September 2023, Sister Angel Bipendu was awarded the Caravella prize at the 15th edition of the Mediterranean Journalists Festival in Otranto, Italy. The Congolese nun was rewarded for her commitment to migrant rescue operations in Lampedusa, which saved the lives of 47,282 migrants of African origin.
Environmental activist and lawyer based in North Kivu, Olivier Bahemuke was the winner of the 2023 Africa Prize for Human Rights Defenders at Risk awarded by the Dublin-based Front Line Defenders organization. The award ceremony took place in Dublin on May 26, 2023, in the presence of Olivier Ndoole.
Established in 2005, the annual Front Line Defenders Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk honors the work of human rights defenders who courageously make an outstanding contribution to the promotion and protection of the human rights of others, often at great personal risk.
Olivier Bahemuke, it was explained, has dedicated his life to defending environmental rights, land rights and land justice, and to promoting transparent, accountable and sustainable governance of land tenure systems in the DRC. In 2008, he co-founded the NGO ”Alerte Congolaise pour l’Environnement et les Droits de l’Homme”, through which he has actively supported and represented local communities, groups and individuals working on the environment for over 15 years.
In November 2023, Galatasaray soccer club and DRC national team striker Cedric Bakambu received the 2023 “Player Impact Award” from the International Federation of Professional Footballers’ Associations (Fifpro) 2023.
Cédric Bakambu received the award for the remarkable work carried out by his foundation. The Cedric Bakambu Foundation aims to develop the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo by providing education in literacy, health, new technologies, sport and the country’s history. The foundation has supported, financed and created various initiatives, including a visceral cancer and endocrine surgery research project in France, which has supported a hospital in Kinshasa.
Executive Director of Les Amis des Bonobos du Congo (ABC), Fanny Minesi is the 2023 winner of the Tusk Prize for Conservation in Africa, awarded each year to an individual considered to be a leading new conservationist, in recognition of outstanding success in their chosen field.
Born and raised in the DRC, Fanny Minesi has been involved in wildlife conservation since childhood. She is the daughter of Claudine André, founder of ABC. In 2014, she took charge of all the organization’s projects and programs: bonobo rescue and reintroduction, habitat protection, community development and conservation awareness. She oversees a team of over 80 people based at the Lola ya Bonobo sanctuary and the Ekolo ya Bonobo community reserve.
Prior to heading ABC, Fanny Minesi held senior positions in a multinational logistics company, managing nine sites in the DRC and 157 employees.
In April 2023, Sr Liliane Mujing, founder and president of the Congolese Sitting Volleyball Federation (FECOVA), received the Outstanding Achievement Award from World ParaVolley (WPV), the international volleyball organization for people living with disabilities.
Sister Liliane Mujing, explained the organization, became involved in paravolley in 2010, while working as a project coordinator in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo. Seeing people with physical disabilities, she decided it was necessary to involve them in sporting activities and so introduced sitting volleyball. As DRC administrator, she participated in the London Paralympics, before playing a key role in ensuring that the DRC could register, travel to and participate in ParaVolley Africa’s 2015 and 2017 Zonal Sitting Volleyball Championships in Kigali, Rwanda.
Sister Liliane Mujing was awarded the Schumann Prize in 2019 for the best manager of projects funded by the European Union for the promotion of people with disabilities, including handisport.
Visual artist Léonard Pongo was one of five winners of the CAP Prize, selected by a panel of 20 international judges. The CAP Prize is the international prize for contemporary African photography and has been awarded to five photographers every year since 2012. The 2023 winners are Nadia Ettwein, Yassmin Forte, Maheder Haileselassie, Carlos Idun-Tawiah and two-time winner Léonard Pongo. Each of their projects was created on the African continent or focuses on the African diaspora.
Léonard Pongo won for his experimental documentary project “Primordial Earth”. In this project, Léonard Pongo depicts the landscape as a living entity, a character endowed with a will of its own and an indomitable power. In this way, the artist proposes to look at the DRC through the eyes of its traditions, and considers its magnificent and diverse environment as the origins of consciousness, and as sources of inspiration for understanding, depicting and imagining our relationship with the planet.
Augure”, the first feature film by Belgian-Congolese musician and actor Baloji, won the “New Voice” prize in the “Un Certain Regard” section at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. The film tells the story of Koffi – played by Congolese-born actor Marc Nzinga – considered a sorcerer by his family, who returns to the Congo after an absence of 15 years to introduce his Belgian wife Alice (Lucie Debay), who is pregnant with twins.
Entrepreneur and founder of the Kinshasa-based production company “Inrise Production”, Alain Okan Mboma came third in the “African Next Entrepreneurs” competition, organized by the African Business Club (ABC), a France-based institution that promotes African and Afro-descendant entrepreneurs. 500 projects were registered for the competition, 11 of which were selected for the final.
Alain Okan Mboma is the author of the cartoon “Noah de Coco”, created entirely in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and soon to be broadcast on TV5Monde, Gully Africa and Trace TV.
Joseph Kahongo, 27, is one of the two winning candidates in the tenth edition of the Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon Fellowship. The 2023 edition was organized in Côte d’Ivoire and open to the 25 countries of French-speaking Africa. The scholarship was initiated by Radio France Internationale (RFI), in tribute to journalists Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon, murdered on November 2, 2012 in Kidal, northern Mali,
Over 330 applications were received in 2023, and 20 young professionals were selected, including 10 reporting technicians and 10 journalists from 12 countries. The two scholarship winners were announced on Thursday November 2 at the awards ceremony in Abidjan.
Joseph Kahongo holds a degree in journalism from the Faculty of Letters and Humanities at the University of Lubumbashi. He is a journalist, presenter and reporter with Malaika radio and television in Lubumbashi. He reported on the consumption of “Kadhafi cocktails”, a mixture of alcohol and drugs, and the consequences of this practice. The jury praised “a fine progression in the report, a very good mix as well as the sensitivity and professional rigor of the author’s work”. As RFI pointed out, the story offers hope by taking the listener to treatment centers and to patients who have been cured.
American soccer player in Canada. Hénoc Muamba, born in the DRC, was awarded the “Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award 2023”. In 2022, he was voted “Most Valuable Player” of the Grey Cup (the name of the Canadian Football League championship). He was also voted Grey Cup Most Valuable Canadian, becoming only the second player to win both awards.
Hénoc Muamba began his professional career playing with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, becoming the first player from St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia to be selected first overall in the draft. He then joined the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League, played with the Montreal Alouettes and, in 2021, signed with the Toronto Argonauts. In February 2023, he re-signed with Toronto, although he was sidelined by a knee injury early in the season.
Married with three children, Hénoc Muamba is considering the creation of the Muamba Foundation.
In May 2023, Olympique de Marseille’s Congolese international Chancel Mbemba won the Marc-Vivien Foé prize awarded by the France 24 and RFI media to the best African player of the French Ligue 1 season. Chancel Mbemba is the first defender to win the Marc-Vivien Foé award, and the second Congolese, after Gaël Kakuta in 2021.
Chancel Mbemba was chosen by a jury of almost 100 people specializing in French and African soccer (journalists, consultants, former players, etc.), ahead of Ivorian midfielder Seko Fofana of RC Lens, winner of the Prix Marc-Vivien Foé 2022, and Nigerian striker Terem Moffi of OGC Nice.
CEO of Meyakulisha, a company specializing in the sustainable production of Bissap juice, Dorcas Sakaneno Ditu was honored at the Prix Ubora 2023 West awards ceremony, held on December 5, 2023 at Silikin Village, Kinshasa. Celebrating entrepreneurial excellence and social impact, the Ubora Prize, initiated by the King Beaudoin Foundation in partnership with BIO, aims to promote the performance of SMEs, their recognition and the application of environmental, social and governance standards in the DRC. According to the award organizers, Meyakulisha stands out for its rigorous compliance with environmental standards, setting an exemplary model in the beverage sector.
In January 2023, the two young Congolese-born writers won the Writers’ Trust McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize, awarded annually to renowned emerging writers for a short story or excerpt from a work of fiction in progress.
Sarah Kabamba lives in Ottawa, where she is working on her first collection of poetry. The young author loves storytelling in all its forms, and believes it to be one of the most powerful tools available to artists.
Sarah Kabamba’s work has been published in prestigious magazines such as Room, PRISM international, The New Quarterly, HA&L Magazine, Canthius, In/Words Magazine & Press, Ottawater and The Vault. Her work was shortlisted for the 2017 CBC Poetry Prize, shortlisted for the 2017 Writers’ Trust McClelland & Stewart Journey Award, and featured in the 2018 edition of Quattro Books’ Best New Poets in Canada series.
Téa Mutonji, born in Congo-Kinshasa, is a poet and writer based in Toronto. She holds a degree in Media Studies and minor diplomas in English Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Toronto Scarborough. Her first collection of short stories, Shut Up You’re Pretty, appeared on several Canadian best short story lists, and in 2020 won the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction and the Trillium Book Award.
Téa Mutonji is editor of Feel Ways: A Scarborough Anthology, published by Mawenzi House. She is the recipient of the Jill Davis Fellowship in Fiction 2021 at New York University.
Winner of the Castello Di Duino XIV Prize and the Humanities and Social Sciences Award 2023 for Best Fiction: Poetry, Sarah Lubala is a poet born in Congo and living in Johannesburg. She has twice been shortlisted for the Gerald Kraak Award and once for the Brittle Paper Poetry Award, as well as for the Sol Plaatje EU Poetry Award. Her first collection, A History of Disappearance, was published by Botsotso Publishing in 2022.
