From mining boardrooms to the central bank: the women shaping DR Congo's economy
A growing number of Congolese women hold influential positions in mining, finance and agribusiness.
From the boardrooms of international mining companies to the country's financial institutions and its agricultural sector, a growing number of Congolese women are taking up positions of influence and helping to shape the economic future of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The most prominent is the Governor of the Central Bank of Congo, Marie-France Malangu Kabedi Mbuyi, who has led the institution since 2021 and has overseen monetary policy through a period of currency pressure and conflict in the east of the country.
Women also occupy senior roles at the subsidiaries of global mining groups such as Glencore, which operate in the copper and cobalt belt of the south-east, the backbone of the Congolese economy. Others have built businesses in banking and agribusiness, sectors seen as essential to diversifying an economy heavily dependent on mineral exports.
Their rise comes as the country seeks to attract investment and to capture more value from its vast mineral wealth, including the critical minerals required for the global energy transition.