Druti
The Democratic Republic of Congo is the largest country in Sub-Saharan Africa. The country is rich in mineral resources, which should have helped the country reach greater heights regarding economic conditions. But, the history of conflicts, political unrest and instability has left the country amongst the world’s five poorest countries. But amongst all these, some people have achieved their goals and set the economic bar higher. Moïse Katumbi Chapwe has established himself as the richest person in DR Congo.
Moise Katumbi Chapwe is a Congolese individual. He is a businessman, politician and football team president. Let’s have a better glance at the life of the richest person in DR Congo. Katambi’s net worth as of August 2023 is $5 Million.
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Family life of the richest person in DR Congo
Moïse Katumbi was born on December 28, 1964, to a Congolese mother of the Bemba and Yeke tribes and a Greek Sephardic Jewish father, Nissim Soriano. Katumbi’s father, a Greek Sephardic Jew, fled Rhodes with his two sisters in 1938 following the adoption of discriminatory Racial Laws by the Italian fascist administration. He settled in Katanga, Congo, which was then a Belgian territory.
Katumbi’s mother descended from the Lunda Kazembe nobility. Mwata Kazembe XIV was his grandfather. The name Katumbi was given to the family by a great-grandfather on his mother’s side. Katumbi grew up in the Congolese village of Kashobwe, close to Lake Mweru and the Zambian border. His father worked in the fishing industry. Hence, Moïse Katumbi also started his career in the fishing industry when he was 13.
He is married to Carine Katumbi, and they have three children: Ishmael Katumbi, Lael Katumbi, and Jonathan Katumbi. Raphael Katebe Katoto is his elder half-brother. He is a retired politician and businessman who was a member of the RCD-Goma and led a political group that challenged Congolese President Joseph Kabila in 2006.
Different phases of Katumbi’s career
Private Career:
The richest person in DR Congo began his fishing career when he was 13 years old. He sold salted and fresh fish to Gécamines, a state-owned mining corporation. In 1987, he established Etablissement Katumbi to consolidate all his business operations, including mining, transportation, and food processing.
Moise Katumbi established MCK in 1997, which specialised in mining and logistics and subcontracted for regional mining businesses such as Gécamines. By 2015, the company had grown to 1900 employees and was the country’s top mining enterprise. MCK was purchased by the French company Necotrans in November 2015 for an unknown sum.
During the Second Congo War, Katumbi relocated to Zambia, where he had commercial connections in transportation. He returned to the DR Congo in 2003 at the invitation of President Kabila, who pushed Katumbi to assist in rehabilitating Katanga’s mining industry.
Football Career
Moise Katumbi has been the president of the football club TP Mazembe in Lubumbashi since 1997. The team has won the CAF Champions League five times, most recently in 2009, 2010, and 2015. 2010, it became the first African team to compete in the FIFA Club World Cup finals.
Katumbi has made significant investments in the team and has been regarded by the media and the public as one of the reasons for the club’s success. During his reign, the team acquired players from Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Ghana, and Zambia while retaining local talent by providing the highest wages in Africa. Katumbi spent $35 million to build the team’s stadium, which was finished in 2011.
Katumbi was chosen for FIFA’s strategic commission in 2012. He was voted to the Africa Cup of Nations organising committee in 2013, which he chaired until 2017. Since 2009, he has also been on the Confederation of African Football (CAF) marketing committee.
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Political Career
Katumbi was elected to the National Assembly in 2006. In January 2007, he was the first democratically elected Governor of Katanga Province, winning 94 votes out of 102.
Katumbi’s administration has been credited with reviving the province’s economy by building infrastructure, enticing foreign investment with tax cuts and streamlined government procedures, and combating corruption. Local taxes climbed from $80 million in 2007 to more than $3 billion in 2014 due to Katumbi’s actions as governor. Annual revenue grew from $100 million in 2007 to $1.5 billion in 2013.
Moise Katumbi enacted an export embargo for raw minerals, including cobalt, shortly after taking government, forcing big mining corporations to establish processing units in the province or pay a tax on the exported concentrate. Copper production grew under Katumbi from 8,000 metric tonnes in 2006 to more than 1 million in 2014.
Lifestyle of Katumbi
Katumbi is one of the political leaders of Congo. Hence, his personal lifestyle is little known about. Even though he is the richest person in DR Congo, yet the description of his residence, the cars he owns or anything extraordinary in his possession is unknown to the world. Again, they like to keep personal things private.
Final words
Katumbi is well regarded favourably in Katanga Province and throughout the country for his work in developing the Katanga region and as president of TP Mazembe. He is well-known for his generosity, offering money to those who ask and investing his money in charitable projects.
Katumbi’s public image has been defined as a “self-made man” and a “man of the people” by the media. After Katumbi announced his intention to resign as governor in 2011, approximately one million people signed a petition urging him to stay.
The Africa Report named him one of “The 50 Most Influential Africans” in 2012. In 2015, he was also given the title of “African of the Year” by Jeune Afrique.
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