Copper, cobalt, Congo and the new green economy

Paul Mabolia is Director General of the Cadastre Minier; “Gateway to the mining sector in the DRC”. Mr. Mabolia was a senior advisor to the Ministry of Mines in the DRC and the coordinator of the Technical Cell of Coordination and Mining Planning (CTCPM). Also, he was national coordinator of the “Promines project” of the Ministry of Mines and responsible for good governance in the mining sector in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Robert Friedland is an international entrepreneur and American businessman who founded 8 companies and has been the head of 17 different companies. Associated with natural resources and technology projects for over 30 years. Mr. Friedland is the founder of Turquoise Hill Resources, a Canadian company recognized for its world-class copper and gold discovery at Oyu Tolgoi, Mongolia. Mr. Friedland is also the founder and co-executive chairman of the board of directors of Ivanhoe Mines, a Canadian mining company based in Vancouver and developing three main mining projects in southern Africa: the Bushveld complex and the palladium-platinum-nickel-copper-rhodium-gold mine from Paltreef on the northern branch of South Africa; mining development and exploration of the Kamoa-Kakula copper project in the Central African copper belt in the Democratic Republic of Congo; and the development of the historic high-grade Kipushi zinc-copper-lead-germanium mine, also located in the DRC copper belt. Ivanhoe DRC employs more than 18,000 people, 98% of whom are Congolese; the company is one of the largest contributors to the Congolese public treasury. Under Mr. Friedland's leadership, leaders of the Ivanhoe Group and associated companies have raised more than $25 billion through a diverse range of financing vehicles in global capital markets since 1993.

Mr. Landry Meya is the Chief Executive of the mining solutions company AKATA RDC, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. AKATA DRC offers professional, cost-effective and efficient mining solutions in the areas of mechanized mining and associated value-added services in the DRC and beyond. The company also offers expertise in contract mining and mining operations management, a unique application in the industry.

Mr. Charles Mesnil is General Manager of mining company Lugamines, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A Swiss national with a background in finance and project management, Mr. Mesnil has accumulated more than 20 years of experience in consulting in Paris, Frankfurt and Zurich, particularly in Mergers & Acquisition and Private Equity, before moving to Katanga in 2015. Mr. Mesnil was a Senior Associate for Ernst and Young, Corporate Finance Manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) both in Frankfurt, Germany. Mr. Mesnil then pursued is career in Private Equity as an Investment Manager at ViewPoint Capital Partners – the first private equity firm in Europe specializing exclusively on mature software technology companies in the growth capital - and as a Managing Partner at wine-focused investment fund Ecce Vinum Capital before investigating the opportunities to bring his sense of investment and his discipline of execution in DRC. This led him to join Lugamines as a General Manager, where he is responsible for the overall strategic planning, plan execution and project financing.

Mr. Mulamba is Chief Executive of Citibank in the Democratic Republic of Congo; he is also responsible for managing markets for the DRC. In addition, Mr. Mulamba is the president of the Congolese Banking Association, a conglomerate of 17 Congolese banks. A juggernaut with $21 trillion in assets under custody and a market capitalization of $83.72 billion, Citibank is part of the New York-based financial group, Citigroup, which ranks among the Top 3 largest banks in the United States. A systemic 'Too Big to Fail' bank, a symbol of Wall Street, it is the only American bank established in the DRC and it opened its office in Kinshasa in 1971, and established another one in Lubumbashi in 2013. Citi DRC is primarily aimed at clients in the mining and metals industry and also provides a wide range of banking services to government entities, non-governmental organizations, subsidiaries of multinationals, local businesses and microfinance institutions.

Stanislas Zeze is the Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive of Bloomfield Investment Corporation, the first panafrican credit rating agency in French-speaking Africa. With extensive international experience in the financial and operational risk management sector, Mr. Zeze began his career as a credit risk manager at the National Bank of Credit in Ann Harbor, Michigan, and later at the World Bank in Washington D.C. as a senior risk analyst.

Lino N'shimba is President of the United States Chamber of Commerce in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mr. N'shimba is also Chairman of the Board of Directors of Africa Equity & Investment Group, a strategic consulting and investment firm with a range of multiple economic interests which include the mining sector and specifically copper, cobalt, and lithium.

Amedeo Anniciello is Chief Executive of Standard Bank in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A seasoned banker with nearly 40 years of experience, Mr. Anniciello began his career with Société Générale in South Africa and then joined Credit & Savings Help Bank Ltd before becoming a Director of the Corporate & Investment Banking branch at Fidelity Bank Ghana Ltd, in Ghana. Mr. Anniciello then joined Citigroup Inc. as a Director of Corporate & Investment Banking and Deputy Managing Director in several countries on the African continent; first of all in Gabon, Zambia, and then Algeria.

Yves Ilunga AGA (SA) is Chief Executive of Glencore’s Mutanda Mining SARL, the world's biggest cobalt mine, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mr. Ilunga served as Non Executive Director of Alufer Mining Limited in Guernsey, and has over 20 years of experience in the mining industry. Mr. Ilunga previously worked with MMG, Endeavour Mining on their Houndé Project, and was Chief Financial Officer of Dangote Cement and Sierra Rutile.