Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner (born 1983) is a political scientist and politician who was appointed as

Foreign Minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

of the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

on 13 June 2024. She replaced

Christophe Lutundula Christophe Lutundula Apala Pen'apala is a member of the National Assembly of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Deputy President of the Assembly. Career On March 25, 2009, he became President ad interim of the Assembly following the ...

Background and education

She was born in 1983 in the city of

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ), formerly named Léopoldville from 1881–1966 (), is the Capital city, capital and Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is one of the world's fastest-grow ...

, the capital of DR Congo, then known as

Zaire Zaire, officially the Republic of Zaire, was the name of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1971 to 18 May 1997. Located in Central Africa, it was, by area, the third-largest country in Africa after Sudan and Algeria, and the 11th-la ...

. Her mother is Congolese and her father is a former German Catholic priest, Johannes Wilhelm Wagner, from

Bad Münstereifel Bad Münstereifel () is a historical spa town in the district of Euskirchen (district), Euskirchen, Germany, with about 17,000 inhabitants, situated in the far southwest of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The little town is one of on ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

. Born in 1937, Wagner came to Congo in 1966 where he served in the St. Alphonse parish in the popular area of

Matete Matete is one of the 24 communes of Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Situated in the Mont Amba District in the southern part of Kinshasa, Matete spans an area of 4.80 square kilometers and had an estimated popu ...

. He resigned from the priesthood in 1977 to marry his Congolese partner, Thérèse Kayikwamba Kabundji from

Mbuji-Mayi Mbuji-Mayi (formerly Bakwanga) is a city and the capital of Kasai-Oriental Province in the south-central Democratic Republic of Congo. It is thought to be the second largest city in the country, after the capital Kinshasa and ahead of Lubumbashi ...

in the

Kasaï region The Kasaï region (also referred to as the Greater Kasaï region, Greater Kasaï, Grand Kasaï, or simply Kasaï) is a geographic and cultural region in south-central Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a single province, it now comprises the ...

. They have three children, two girls and a deceased son. Wagner spent her childhood in Kinshasa, Germany,

Lomé Lomé ( , ) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities in Togo, largest city of Togo. It has an urban population of 837,437

and

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

. She has academic degrees from

Harvard Kennedy School The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

, Global Campus of Human Rights and

Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz () is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany. It has been named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. it had approximately 32,000 students enrolled in around 100 a ...

. Her older sister, Katharina Mbuyi Wagner, born in 1978 in Kinshasa, is the senior foreign affairs political advisor to president

Félix Tshisekedi Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo (; born 13 June 1963) is a Congolese politician who has served as the fifth president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, since 2019. He was the leader of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (Demo ...

Business career

She has a varied career in the public and private service. Between 2009 and 2011 she worked with the German International Development Cooperation Agency (GIZ), based in

Kigali Kigali () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali is a relativ ...

, Rwanda. She then relocated to

Goma Goma is a city in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the North Kivu, North Kivu Province; it is located on the northern shore of Lake Kivu and shares borders with the Bukumu Chiefdo ...

, DR Congo and took up employment with

Oxfam Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent non-governmental organizations (NGOs), focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. It began as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief ...

. The following year she assumed leadership responsibility of Oxfam's program to protect civilians. In 2014, she joined the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

, working in peacekeeping missions, including

MONUSCO The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or MONUSCO (an acronym based on its French name ), is a United Nations peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. A planned withdraw ...

(DR Congo) and

MINUSCA United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (also called MINUSCA, which is an initialism of its French name Mission multidimensionnelle intégrée des Nations unies pour la stabilisation en C ...

(Central African Republic). In 2019, she relocated to

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

(Kenya), working there as the assistant to Xia Huang, the United Nations special envoy for the

African Great Lakes Region The African Great Lakes (; ) are a series of lakes constituting the part of the Rift Valley lakes in and around the East African Rift. The series includes Lake Victoria, the second-largest freshwater lake in the world by area; Lake Tanganyika ...

. Her position before being appointed as cabinet minister was as the Regional Program Manager for Sub-Saharan Africa at the Meta Group.

Political career

On 29 May 2024, Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Francophonie of the DRC in the

Suminwa government The Suminwa government also known as the Suminwa cabinet was formed following the appointment by President Félix Tshisekedi of Judith Suminwa as the first female Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on 1 April 2024. The governm ...

, headed by Prime Minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka. Kayikwamba replaced

. She took office on 13 June 2024. One of her immediate tasks was to attempt to work out a diplomatic settlement between the

March 23 Movement The March 23 Movement (), often abbreviated as M23 and also known as the Congolese Revolutionary Army (), is a Congolese Rwandan-backed rebel paramilitary group. Based in the eastern regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it operates ...

, the

government of Rwanda A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a mea ...

and the

government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo The Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, also known as the Cabinet, is the junior institution in the executive branch of the central government, central authority governing the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the senior instit ...

. The other immediate task was to oversee the gradual withdrawal of MONUSCO forces from the country. In June 2025 she was in the Béatrice Hotel in Kinshasa for a Synergy of Women for Peace and Security workshop with Déborah Nyamugabo, of the National Women's Coalition and a representative of UN Women. On 27 June she signed the DRC-Rwanda peace agreement on behalf of the DRC with Rwandan foreign minister Olivier Nduhungirehe. The agreement, facilitated by the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, aimed to bring lasting peace to eastern Congo. The event also included

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

n journalist Hariana Verás, whose remarks praising the Trump administration for achieving the peace deal at the ceremony drew international attention.Trump flirts with African female reporter
The Daily Beast. Retrieved 5 July 2025

References

External links

Wikipedia Page In French → English
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kayikwamba Wagner, Thérèse Living people 1983 births People from Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo diplomats Ministers of foreign affairs of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Government ministers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo 21st-century Democratic Republic of the Congo politicians Fordham University alumni Harvard Kennedy School alumni Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz alumni 21st-century Democratic Republic of the Congo women politicians Women government ministers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Background and education

Business career

Political career

See also

References

External links