Matata Ponyo Mapon (born 5 June 1964) is a Congolese political figure who was

Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo The Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: link=no, 1=Premier ministre de la République démocratique du Congo, sw, 1=Waziri Mkuu wa Jamhuri ya Kidemokrasia ya Kongo, ln, 1=Minisele ya Yambo wa Republiki ya Kɔ́ngɔ ...

from 18 April 2012 to 17 November 2016. Previously he served as

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

from 21 February 2010 to 12 April 2012; as Prime Minister, he retained responsibility for the finance portfolio. He currently serves as Senator for

Maniema Maniema is one of 26 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its capital is Kindu. Toponymy Henry Morton Stanley explored the area, calling it Manyema.Stanley, H.M., 1899, Through the Dark Continent, London: G. Newnes, Vol. One , ...

Biography

Early life and education

Matata Ponyo Mapon began his studies at Mwanga primary school (formerly Saint-Gaston) in 1970 in

Kindu Kindu is a city in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the capital of Maniema province. It has a population of about 200,000 and is situated on the Lualaba River at an altitude of about 500 metres, and is about 400 km west of Bukavu. Kindu is ...

. He obtained his primary school certificate from Tuendelee school in 1976 in Kindu, his hometown. In 1983, he obtained his

High school diploma A high school diploma or high school degree is a North American academic school leaving qualification awarded upon high school graduation. The high school diploma is typically obtained after a course of study lasting four years, from grade 9 to gra ...

from the Bwindi Institute in

Bukavu Bukavu is a city in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), lying at the extreme south-western edge of Lake Kivu, west of Cyangugu in Rwanda, and separated from it by the outlet of the Ruzizi River. It is the capital of the South Kivu pr ...

and began his studies at the

University of Lubumbashi The University of Lubumbashi (), also known by the acronym UNILU, is one of the largest universities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is located in Lubumbashi in Haut Katanga Province, previously Katanga Province. The campus is locate ...

, then at the

University of Kinshasa The University of Kinshasa (french: Université de Kinshasa), commonly known as UNIKIN, is one of the three major universities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, together with the University of Kisangani and University of Lubumbashi. Origin ...

where he graduated in economics in 1988. In 2016, he started writing his

doctoral thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

entitled “''la qualité de l'ajustement budgétaire et croissance économique en RDC''” (''The quality of budgetary adjustment and economic growth in the DRC''). In February 2018, he was proclaimed a doctorate in economics from the Protestant University in Congo where, since January 2019, he has been teaching courses in

economic An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

and major monetary issues in developing countries.

2012 Katanga Express plane crash near the town of Bukavu

On 12 February 2012, while serving as

, Ponyo was seriously injured in a plane crash near the town of Bukavu, a

Katanga Express Katanga may refer to: Political entities * Katanga Province, a former province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo * State of Katanga, a breakaway state which existed from 1960 to 1963 **Katanga Crisis or "Congo Crisis", a period of turmoil i ...

Gulfstream IV The Gulfstream IV (or G-IV or GIV) and derivatives are a family of twinjet aircraft, mainly for private or business use. They were designed and built by Gulfstream Aerospace, a General Dynamics company based in Savannah, Georgia, United States, ...

business jet A business jet, private jet, or bizjet is a jet aircraft designed for transporting small groups of people. Business jets may be adapted for other roles, such as the evacuation of casualties or express parcel deliveries, and some are used by pub ...

carrying several Congolese government officials overran the runway and crashed on landing at

Kavumu Airport Kavumu Airport is an airport serving Bukavu, the capital city of the Sud-Kivu (South Kivu) province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The airport is north of Bukavu. The Bukavu non-directional beacon (Ident: BKV) is located on the field ...

, in which two passengers and both crew members were killed.

Career

1988 - 2000 : Executive at the Central Bank of Congo

Matata Ponyo worked at the

Central Bank of Congo The Central Bank of the Congo (french: Banque centrale du Congo) is the central bank of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The bank's main offices are on Boulevard Colonel Tshatshi in La Gombe in Kinshasa. The bank is engaged in developing p ...

(BCC) as an economist, he is responsible for credit policy in the credit department, then money and national accounts in the studies department. He is a member of the Monetary Policy Committee and performs several training courses, notably at the

Banque de France The Bank of France ( French: ''Banque de France''), headquartered in Paris, is the central bank of France. Founded in 1800, it began as a private institution for managing state debts and issuing notes. It is responsible for the accounts of the F ...

, the

Central Reserve Bank of Peru The Central Reserve Bank of Peru ( es, Banco Central de Reserva del Perú; BCRP) is the Peruvian central bank. It mints and issues metal and paper money, the sol. Its branch in Arequipa was established in 1871, and it served the city by issuing ...

, the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...

, and in several other countries and institutions.

2000 - 2010 : Advisor to the Ministry of Finance and Director General of the BCECO

From 2000 to 2003, he worked as advisor to the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and Eco ...

in charge of macroeconomic issues and relations with international institutions. He worked closely on the creation of the ''Central Coordination Office'' (''Bureau Central De Coordination - BCECO''), of which he was appointed Director General in October 2003.

2010 - 2012 : Minister of Finance

In February 2010, he took over the Ministry of Finance. He successfully completed the first review of the economic program, that allows the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

to reach the completion point in June 2010 inducing the cancellation of around 10 billion

dollars Dollar is the name of more than 20 currencies. They include the Australian dollar, Brunei dollar, Canadian dollar, Hong Kong dollar, Jamaican dollar, Liberian dollar, Namibian dollar, New Taiwan dollar, New Zealand dollar, Singapore dollar, Un ...

of the country's

external debt A country's gross external debt (or foreign debt) is the liabilities that are owed to nonresidents by residents. The debtors can be governments, corporations or citizens. External debt may be denominated in domestic or foreign currency. It incl ...

. In 2010, he launched a program to modernize and rejuvenate the financial administration through a recruitment and placement program for young Congolese academics, recruited on an extremely competitive basis. As Minister of Finance, he is the Chairman of the ''African Caucus'' (an organization bringing together all finance ministers from

sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

to the

and the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

) and Chairman of the Board of ''Governors of the ACA'' (

African Trade Insurance Agency The African Trade Insurance Agency, also known as ATI, was established in 2001 by seven COMESA countries and with the technical and financial backing of The World Bank to provide insurance against political and commercial risks in order to attract ...

) based in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

. On April 18, 2012, he was appointed as

by President

Joseph Kabila Joseph Kabila Kabange ( , ; born 4 June 1971) is a Congolese politician who served as President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo between January 2001 and January 2019. He took office ten days after the assassination of his father, Presi ...

2012 - 2016 : Prime Minister

During his tenure as Prime Minister, the country achieves exceptional economic performance, the average annual inflation rate drops to 3% (sometimes the rate is below 1% per year) and the average annual economic growth is 7.7%. Matata Ponyo Mapon consolidates the banking system of public

payroll A payroll is the list of employees of some company that is entitled to receive payments as well as other work benefits and the amounts that each should receive. Along with the amounts that each employee should receive for time worked or tasks pe ...

and initiates reforms aimed at diversifying the economy, particularly in the agricultural sector. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is then cited among the most reforming countries and the most dynamic economies in the world. It is gaining a lot of place in the ranking of the

human development index The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistic composite index of life expectancy, education (mean years of schooling completed and expected years of schooling upon entering the education system), and per capita income indicators, whi ...

published by the

UNDP The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...

. He resigned as Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on 14 November 2016, as part of an

African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the Africa ...

-backed national dialogue framework agreement which specifies an opposition leader takes the position of Prime Minister.

2018 : Mission of the legislative elections in Togo

Appointed by the President of the Commission of the African Union to lead the observation mission of the legislative elections of December 20, 2018 in Togo, he has talks with the various stakeholders including,

government officials An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their su ...

and those in charge of the elections, candidates and political parties, representatives of civil society and the media. He supervises the deployment of observers in the various

electoral district An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

s of the country to monitor and evaluate the day of the election. Since February 2019, he has been carrying out support missions for the Togolese government in the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of its vision for the development of the country as embodied in the ''National Development Plan'' of

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

2020 : Head of the Presidential Election Observation Mission in Guinea

In October 2020,

Moussa Faki Moussa Faki Mahamat ( ar, موسى فكي محمد ', born 21 June 1960) is a Chadian politician and diplomat who has been the elected Chairperson of the African Union Commission since 14 March 2017. Previously he was Prime Minister of Chad from 2 ...

, President of the

African Union Commission The Commission of the African Union acts as the executive/administrative branch or secretariat of the African Union (and is somewhat analogous to the European Commission). It consists of a number of Commissioners dealing with different areas of ...

, appointed him as head of the ''Presidential Election Observation Mission'' (MOEUA) in

Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

. His delegation was made up of 25 observers including ambassadors accredited to the

Pan-African Pan-Africanism is a worldwide movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all Indigenous and diaspora peoples of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade, the movement exte ...

parliamentarians, heads of electoral management bodies, civil society organizations and African

academic institution Academic institution is an educational institution dedicated to education and research, which grants academic degrees. See also academy and university. Types * Primary schools – (from French ''école primaire'') institutions where children r ...

Legal proceedings

Bukanga Lonzo agro-industrial park case

Matata Ponyo is accused in 2020 by the General Inspectorate of Finance of

embezzlement Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...

public funds Government spending or expenditure includes all government consumption, investment, and transfer payments. In national income accounting, the acquisition by governments of goods and services for current use, to directly satisfy the individual o ...

(up to $205 million) and criminal association during his tenure as

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

. He is accused of having set up several companies controlled by his relatives for the management of the agro-industrial park of Bukanga Lonzo in Bandundu. The public prosecutor at the

Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...

requests the lifting of his

parliamentary immunity Parliamentary immunity, also known as legislative immunity, is a system in which politicians such as president, vice president, governor, lieutenant governor, member of parliament, member of legislative assembly, member of legislative council, s ...

while he has in the meantime become a

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. The Senate rejected this request on March 14, 2021 because, according to the law, it was up to the

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the Civil law (legal system), civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the ...

at the

Court of Cassation A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case, they only interpret the relevant law. In this they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In th ...

to make the request. In May 2021, the prosecutor at the Court of Cassation requested the lifting of the parliamentary immunity of Matata Ponyo so that he could be heard in this case. Senators refuse to comment on this request. Matata Ponyo is set to stand trial before the

for

of public funds in this case on October 25, 2021. On November 15, 2021, the highest court ruled in his favour, ruling that it cannot try him over the agriculture project's alleged mismanagement. His lawyer said he considered the case close, although the prosecution anticipated an appeal to other courts.

Case of compensation for victims of Zairianization

In 2011, while he was Minister of Finance, Matata Ponyo was responsible for compensating the victims of the Zairianization policy decreed by

Mobutu Sese Seko Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (; born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997) was a Congolese politician and military officer who was the president of Zaire from 1965 to 1997 (known as the Democratic Republic o ...

in the 1970s. In July 2021, the prosecutor at the Constitutional Court obtained the lifting of the parliamentary immunity of Matata Ponyo to be able to question him in this case where he is suspected of embezzlement (to the tune of several million dollars). President

Félix Tshisekedi Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo (; born 13 June 1963) is a Congolese politician who has been the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 24 January 2019. He is the leader of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) ...

is pushing for the Senate to lift Matata Ponyo's immunity. He was heard by the prosecution at the Constitutional Court and placed under a provisional arrest warrant on July 13 and then he is placed under house arrest.

Books

* ''1999 : L'espace monétaire kasaïen - Crise de légitimité et de souveraineté monétaire en période d'hyperinflation au Congo'', 1993-1997 ;

L'Harmattan Éditions L'Harmattan, usually known simply as L'Harmattan (), is one of the largest French book publishers. It specialises in non-fiction books with a particular focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. It is named after the Harmattan, a trade wind in W ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

(

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

). * ''2016 : Pour un Congo émergent'', Privé Publishing in Paris (France). * 2016 : ''Qualité des institutions et résultats économiques en République démocratique du Congo : 1980-2015'', L'Harmattan,

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one o ...

( DRCongo). * 2016 : ''Recueil des discours du ministre des Finances'', Michel Lafon Publishing, Paris (France). * 2018 : ''Plaidoyer pour la bonne gouvernance et le développement'', Michel Lafon Publishing, Paris (France).

Recognition

Honorary degrees

* Honorary Doctorate by the faculty of economics at Protestant University in the Congo (Kinshasa, 2016). * Honorary Doctorate from the

University of Kindu The University of Kindu (UNIKI) is a public university in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, located in the province of Maniema, city of Kindu. At its creation, it was an ''Extension of the University of Lubumbashi'', then called ''University C ...

(Kindu, 2017). * Global sponsor of education by the

Global Partnership for Education The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) is a multi-stakeholder partnership and funding platform that aims to strengthen education systems in developing countries in order to dramatically increase the number of children who are in school and l ...

(GPE) in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

in 2014 for his interest and attention given to the education sector.

Personal life

Matata Ponyo is married to Hortense Katchoko Mbonda and is the father of four children

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ponyo Mapon, Matata 1964 births Finance ministers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Government ministers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Living people People from Maniema Prime Ministers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Unified Lumumbist Party politicians 21st-century Democratic Republic of the Congo people