Jean-Marc Thystère Tchicaya (born 11 April 1964) is a Congolese politician. He is the Minister of Special Economic Zones and Economic Diversification since September 2022. Before that, he was the Minister of Transports, Civil Aviation, and Merchant Navy (2021–2022), and the Minister of Hydrocarbons (2015–2021). As a member of the Rally for Democracy and Social Progress, which he is the president of since May 2015, he is also the deputy of the first constituency of (

Pointe-Noire Pointe-Noire (; , with the letter d following French spelling standards) is the second largest city in the Republic of the Congo, following the capital of Brazzaville, and an autonomous department and a commune since the 2002 Constitution. B ...

) since September 2012.

Biography

Early life and education

Son of politician Jean-Pierre Thystère Tchicaya, who served as the former mayor of

and president of the National Assembly of the Republic of the Congo, Jean-Marc Thystère Tchicaya was born on 11 April 1964 at

Villeneuve-Saint-Georges Villeneuve-Saint-Georges () is a Communes of France, commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. People from Villeneuve-Saint-Georges are called ''Villeneuvois'' in French. Hi ...

Val-de-Marne Val-de-Marne (, "Vale of the Marne") is a department of France located in the Île-de-France region. Named after the river Marne, it is situated in the Grand Paris metropolis to the southeast of the City of Paris. In 2019, Val-de-Marne had a ...

, France. He completed his secondary education in France at ''l'École supérieure des techniciens en électronique et informatique'' as well as at , where he got a degree as a

software engineer Software engineering is a branch of both computer science and engineering focused on designing, developing, testing, and maintaining software applications. It involves applying engineering principles and computer programming expertise to develop ...

in .

Professional career

Starting from 1989, Thystère Tchicaya worked at Bull France. In 1997, he came to the Congo and began to work at Elf Congo as a computer scientist. Later, he worked for Total E&P Congo, where he directed the communication department as well as the department of relations with high institutions of the Republic of the Congo. In addition, he was also the president of the ''Fédération Pétrole'' as well as the vice president of the ''Union patronale et interprofessionelle du Congo'' (''Uni Congo''). Furthermore, he was a member of the consultative committee of the

Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) is a Norwegian-based organization that seeks to establish a global standard for the good governance of oil, gas and mineral resources. It seeks to address the key governance issues in the ...

Political career

Deputy of Mvoumvou

As a member of the Rally for Democracy and Social Progress (RDPS), a party created by his father and which belonged to the presidential majority, Thystère Tchicaya was elected as the deputy of the first constituency of Mvoumvou (Pointe-Noire) in the first round of the

2012 Republic of the Congo parliamentary election 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, with 62.52% of votes. He took power on September 5, replacing Fatou Sauthat Loember. During the

2017 Republic of the Congo parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in the Republic of the Congo on 16 July 2017, with a second round of voting following on 30 July in constituencies where no candidate secured a majority. Background Following a 2015 Republic of the Congo constit ...

, he was re-elected deputy of Mvoumvou in the first round.

Ministerial functions

On 23 May 2015, Thystère Tchicaya was elected as the head of his party, the RDPS. Amidst a cabinet reshuffle a few months later, he entered the as Minister of Hydrocarbons, succeeding André-Raphaël Loemba. The transfer of power was on 20 August 2015. In 2021, following the re-election of President

Denis Sassou-Nguesso Denis Sassou Nguesso (born 23 November 1943) is a Congolese politician and former military officer who has served as president of the Republic of the Congo since 1997. He also previously served as president from 1979 to 1992. Sassou Nguesso hea ...

for a fourth term, Thystère Tchicaya was named Minister of Transports, Civil Aviation, and Merchant Navy within Anatole Collinet Makosso's government (led by

Anatole Collinet Makosso Anatole Collinet Makosso (born 1965) has served as the prime minister of the Republic of the Congo since 2021. He has also served in the government of Congo-Brazzaville as Minister of Primary and Secondary Education from 2015 to 2021, and as the ...

). He succeeded Ingrid Ebouka-Babackas. During another cabinet reshuffle, Thystère Tchicaya became the Minister of

Special Economic Zones A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area in which the business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country. SEZs are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include increasing trade balance, employment, increas ...

and Economic Diversification on 27 September 2022, succeeding , and leaving the position of Minister of Transports to .

Controversies

In July 2018, Thystère Tchicaya, then Minister of Hydrocarbons, was accused by Lamyr Nguélé, president of the National Commission for the Fight Against Corruption. These accusations claimed on the order of 2 billion CFA francs between 2015 and 2017. To defend himself, Thystère Tchicaya thus addressed a letter to Prime Minister

Clément Mouamba Clément Mouamba (13 November 1943 – 29 October 2021) was a Congolese politician who was Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo from 2016 until 2021. He previously served as Minister of Finance from 1992 to 1993. Political career Moua ...

. For many foreign observers, as well as for the members of the PCT and RDPS, these accusations were seen as a political maneuver. They suspected that the minister had held ambitions for running in the 2021 Republic of the Congo presidential election. The majority and the government officially gave their support to the minister, denouncing the Commission's lack of independence. Later on, in September 2018, a law was enacted to replace this Commission by a High Authority of the Fight Against Corruption, which was thought to be more independent.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thystère Tchicaya, Jean-Marc Naval ministers of the Republic of the Congo Transport ministers of the Republic of the Congo Energy ministers of the Republic of the Congo Members of the National Assembly (Republic of the Congo) 1964 births People from Villeneuve-Saint-Georges Living people