The Right Advice | Podcast
About the Host
Arthur Katalayi is a senior partner at A2k Advisory and editor-in-chief at The Right Advice Podcast. A former senior executive advisor to the chairman of the board of directors at copper and cobalt state owned mining company Gecamines, he has had several global advisory assignments including at Fedex Corp. and Wall Street clients most notably Bloomberg L.P. and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
A mining expert at New York financial firm Gerson Lehrman Group (GLG), his expertise has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Bloomberg News and the state-owned Chinese channel China Global Television Network.
Mr. Katalayi served as a senior economic advisor to the president of the Federation des Entreprises du Congo ; DRC’s chamber of commerce and its premier business lobby group. In 2017, Mr. Katalayi was awarded in New York the MIPAD Global Top 100 award – a selection of the world’s 100 most influential people of african descent under 40 years of age.
Of congolese descent, born in Lyon and raised in Paris, educated in the United Kingdom and the United States, Mr. Katalayi graduated from Salem International University in West Virginia where he was on a soccer scholarship, and received an M.A. from Rider University in New Jersey.
About the Author
About the Host
Arthur Katalayi is a senior partner at A2k Advisory and editor-in-chief at The Right Advice Podcast. A former senior executive advisor to the chairman of the board of directors at copper and cobalt state owned mining company Gecamines, he has had several global advisory assignments including at Fedex Corp. and Wall Street clients most notably Bloomberg L.P. and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
A mining expert at New York financial firm Gerson Lehrman Group (GLG), his expertise has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Bloomberg News and the state-owned Chinese channel China Global Television Network.
Mr. Katalayi served as a senior economic advisor to the president of the Federation des Entreprises du Congo ; DRC’s chamber of commerce and its premier business lobby group. In 2017, Mr. Katalayi was awarded in New York the MIPAD Global Top 100 award – a selection of the world’s 100 most influential people of african descent under 40 years of age.
Of congolese descent, born in Lyon and raised in Paris, educated in the United Kingdom and the United States, Mr. Katalayi graduated from Salem International University in West Virginia where he was on a soccer scholarship, and received an M.A. from Rider University in New Jersey.
About The Podcast
In The Right Advice Podcast Arthur Katalayi discusses with world-class industry pioneers and executives about the importance of natural resources, financial markets, the future of the mining industry and how green energy is gradually electrifying the world economy.
The $173 trillion global energy transition is taking place and the minerals of the Democratic Republic of Congo – of which the global demand will quadruple until 2050 – are at the heart of our daily activities through modern technology; the emergence of electric vehicles and the digitalization of human interactions.
The Podcast
The Right Advice Podcast is Arthur Katalayi discussing with global industry pioneers and executives about the importance of natural resources, financial markets, electric vehicles, the future of the mining industry and how green energy is gradually electrifying the world economy. The $173 trillion global energy transition is taking place and the minerals of the Democratic Republic of Congo are at the heart of our daily activities via modern technology and the digitalization of human interactions.
About the Author
About the Podcast
In The Right Advice Podcast Arthur Katalayi discusses with world-class industry pioneers and executives about the importance of natural resources, financial markets, the future of the mining industry and how green energy is gradually electrifying the world economy.
The $173 trillion global energy transition is taking place and the minerals of the Democratic Republic of Congo – of which the global demand will quadruple until 2050 – are at the heart of our daily activities through modern technology; the emergence of electric vehicles and the digitalization of human interactions.
Blockchain, metaverse, Sillicon Valley, cryptocurrency, Hollywood and NFT
Loudon Owen is Chief Executive and Chairman of the Board of Directors at DLT Labs Inc., a global pioneer in enterprise blockchain; operational in Canada, Japan, India and Singapore.
In 2020, DLT Labs and global retail giant Walmart (NYSE: WMT) launched the world’s largest industrial blockchain application. In early 2022, DLT Labs and Canadian mining company Teck Resources (NYSE: TECK) announced a pilot project using blockchain technology to trace responsibly produced germanium from mine to customer; a world premiere for this strategic mineral.
An international businessman, venture capitalist and lawyer with more than 30 years of experience building businesses around the world, Mr. Owen co-founded McLean Watson Capital, one of the leading venture capital firms in the Canada. Additionally, Mr. Owen has funded, directed and advised Softimage; a Quebec company, world leader in high-end 3D animation that has produced imagery and special effects for legendary Hollywood films including Star Wars, Titanic, The Matrix, Jurassic Park and Men in Black. With decades of experience in technology ventures including deep mining technology, digital innovation, artificial intelligence, XML data management and now blockchain, Mr. Owen is a champion of intellectual property rights recognized by IAM300.
Mr. Owen was also the founder and CEO of Toronto-based i4i, known worldwide for having won a historic and titanic legal battle against the tech dinosaur Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT). In 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld on appeal a record $290 million verdict in favor of i4i against the world’s largest software company for infringing a technology patent relating to Microsoft Word and XML. Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote the final opinion of the case and President Barack Obama’s administration and Mr. Owen’s i4i opposed Bill Gates’ Microsoft position. (United States of America Supreme Court: Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Limited Partnership & Infrastructures for Information Inc. Case No. 10-290).
Mr. Owen holds a BA, JD (Osgoode Hall Law School) from the University of Toronto, and holds an MBA from INSEAD in Fontainebleau.
Mustafa Rawji is chief executive of Rawbank SA; the largest bank in the Democratic Republic of Congo by the size of its balance sheet of ($3 billion). Founded in 2002, Rawbank SA is an entity of the 14 companies of the conglomerate Rawji Group created in 1922.
Mr. Rawji began his career at Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (formerly Calyon), initially in Geneva, then in Paris. Having supported the creation of Rawbank, he then continued his international banking experience by joining the British banking groups of HSBC and Barclays in Dubai; within the Corporate, Investment & Merchant Banking departments.
Mr. Rawji later joined Rawbank SA as Deputy Secretary General, Chairman of the Credit Committee, Head of the Marketing & Communication Department and Chairman of the Quality Committee. In addition, he then served as Director of Strategic Development, Vice President of the Management Committee and Deputy General Manager, before becoming its Chief Executive in 2020.
Born and raised in Kinshasa, educated in the United Kingdom and the United States, Mr. Rawji is a graduate of the Babson College Business School in Boston, Massachusetts.
Kamoa, Kakula, copper, Robert Friedland, Ivanhoe, Kipushi, Katanga
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 mine discovery at Oyu Tolgoi, Mongolia.
Mr. Friedland got his start as the CEO of Galactic Resources Ltd. Raising over $300 million in investments, he established a gold mine at Summitville, Colorado. 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 platinum-palladium-gold-nickel-copper from Platreef 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-silver-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. Estimations have Ivanhoe Mines valued at $18 billion as of 2024. 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.
During the 1990s, Mr. Friedland was an early key investor in Sina.com, now the largest Chinese-language online infotainment web portal. Ivanhoe Capital, his family’s private company specializing in providing venture capital and project financing for international companies, provided the founding venture capital for the American company Sirius Satellite Radio, which later made SiriusXM the largest radio company in the world which now has more than 31 million satellite and online subscribers. Mr. Friedland is co-founder of I-Pulse; private American company based in Toulouse, expert in electrical energy supplying disruptive industrial solutions.
Mr Friedland is co-chairman of the board of Clean TeQ, an Australian-listed company providing innovative and sustainable solutions for metal recovery and water treatment. Additionally, Mr. Friedland founded and chairs Ivanhoe Pictures, based in Hollywood, California, with offices in Beijing and New York. Launched in 2013, Ivanhoe Pictures finances and produces film and television projects that garner broad appeal among international audiences; the company is currently co-producing with partners in India, South Korea and China. In 2018, Mr. Friedland co-financed the film “Crazy Rich Asians,” and in 2020 he served as an executive producer on the film “Palmer” with Justin Timberlake.
In 2021, Mr. Friedland created Ivanhoe Electric. In January 2023, Ivanhoe Electric partnered with Saudi Arabian mining giant Ma’aden to explore metals essential to the global energy transition. Based in Riyadh, Ma’aden will invest $126.4 million in the capital of Ivanhoe Electric, which gives the largest mining group in the Gulf a 9.9% stake in the American company based in Arizona. According to aggregate calculations from the American magazine Forbes dating from January 2024, Mr. Friedland’s updated assets are valued at $2.9 billion. Mr. Friedland greatly contributed to shaping the personality of Steve Jobs, visionary American inventor and co-founder of Apple.inc; when both were students at Reed College.
Chicago-born, international mining legend, Singapore-based mining magnate and multiple billionaire, Mr. Friedland holds a degree in political science from Reed College, Oregon, USA . He was recognized by the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame in 2016, and the American Mining Hall of Fame in 2021.
Integrated solutions, mechanized mining, sous-traitance, research and engineering
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. Meya began his career at AGS Worldwide Movers before moving to the Anglo-Dutch oil multinational; Shell, as a credit analyst. With this experience, the American multinational Cummins recruited him as a business developer in Central Africa. He then joined the German multinational Bosh, as Head of Mining & Cross-Selling for the entire African continent; thus developing the company’s activity in more than 24 countries in Africa. A multi-faceted entrepreneur, Mr. Meya is also Managing Director of the investment company Kongo Investments Group and Strategic Director of Smart Africa 4.0.
Mr. Meya is President of the Congolese Association of Subcontractors. According to a study by the Regulatory Authority for Subcontracting in the Private Sector (ARSP) dating from 2023, $8 billion escapes each year from the State, which is now seeking to diversify its economy by creating a middle class
Mr. Meya holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa.
Mustafa Rawji is chief executive of Rawbank SA; the largest bank in the Democratic Republic of Congo by the size of its balance sheet of ($3 billion). Founded in 2002, Rawbank SA is an entity of the 14 companies of the conglomerate Rawji Group created in 1922.
Mr. Rawji began his career at Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (formerly Calyon), initially in Geneva, then in Paris. Having supported the creation of Rawbank, he then continued his international banking experience by joining the British banking groups of HSBC and Barclays in Dubai; within the Corporate, Investment & Merchant Banking departments.
Mr. Rawji later joined Rawbank SA as Deputy Secretary General, Chairman of the Credit Committee, Head of the Marketing & Communication Department and Chairman of the Quality Committee. In addition, he then served as Director of Strategic Development, Vice President of the Management Committee and Deputy General Manager, before becoming its Chief Executive in 2020.
Born and raised in Kinshasa, educated in the United Kingdom and the United States, Mr. Rawji is a graduate of the Babson College Business School in Boston, Massachusetts.
Ore refining, private equity, mineral stockpiles, Katanga, merger & aquisition
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.
Lugamines Sarl is a Congolese mining company founded in 2018. The company leverages on its sister companies Express Oil and Ratco to develop and manage mining projects, based either on its own capital or on third party selected investor funds focusing on copper and cobalt mining concessions, ore refining and mineral stockpiles (“remblais” in French).
Mr. Mesnil is a graduate of Ecole Spéciale Militaire de Saint Cyr (Aspirant Parachutiste) and holds a Master’s degree of Université Paris Dauphine – PSL in Paris, France.
Mustafa Rawji is chief executive of Rawbank SA; the largest bank in the Democratic Republic of Congo by the size of its balance sheet of ($3 billion). Founded in 2002, Rawbank SA is an entity of the 14 companies of the conglomerate Rawji Group created in 1922.
Mr. Rawji began his career at Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (formerly Calyon), initially in Geneva, then in Paris. Having supported the creation of Rawbank, he then continued his international banking experience by joining the British banking groups of HSBC and Barclays in Dubai; within the Corporate, Investment & Merchant Banking departments.
Mr. Rawji later joined Rawbank SA as Deputy Secretary General, Chairman of the Credit Committee, Head of the Marketing & Communication Department and Chairman of the Quality Committee. In addition, he then served as Director of Strategic Development, Vice President of the Management Committee and Deputy General Manager, before becoming its Chief Executive in 2020.
Born and raised in Kinshasa, educated in the United Kingdom and the United States, Mr. Rawji is a graduate of the Babson College Business School in Boston, Massachusetts.
Financial services, global banking, New York, interest rates and multinational corporation
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 banks based in Congo.
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.
Mr. Mulamba joined Citi in 2007 as Deputy CEO, Board of Director, Head of Markets and Country Treasurer for the DRC. Previously, Mr. Mulamba was a senior financial analyst at Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation in Dallas, Texas, and held the same position at consulting firm Accenture. Additionally, Mr. Mulamba worked for Citi Capital Relocation in Irving, Texas and began his career with American Market Connection in Boston, Massachusetts.
Mr. Mulamba holds a Masters in Applied Economics from the University of Liège, Belgium, and a Masters in Banking and Finance from the University Evry Val-d’Essonne (Paris-Saclay), France.
Mustafa Rawji is chief executive of Rawbank SA; the largest bank in the Democratic Republic of Congo by the size of its balance sheet of ($3 billion). Founded in 2002, Rawbank SA is an entity of the 14 companies of the conglomerate Rawji Group created in 1922.
Mr. Rawji began his career at Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (formerly Calyon), initially in Geneva, then in Paris. Having supported the creation of Rawbank, he then continued his international banking experience by joining the British banking groups of HSBC and Barclays in Dubai; within the Corporate, Investment & Merchant Banking departments.
Mr. Rawji later joined Rawbank SA as Deputy Secretary General, Chairman of the Credit Committee, Head of the Marketing & Communication Department and Chairman of the Quality Committee. In addition, he then served as Director of Strategic Development, Vice President of the Management Committee and Deputy General Manager, before becoming its Chief Executive in 2020.
Born and raised in Kinshasa, educated in the United Kingdom and the United States, Mr. Rawji is a graduate of the Babson College Business School in Boston, Massachusetts.
Economics, credit rating agency, Côte d'Ivoire and sovereign debt
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.
Still in Washington D.C., he joined the International Institute for Economics as a Director of Projects, and then the National Bank of Detroit as a Director of Risks for Small and Medium Enterprises – Small and Medium Industries (PME-PMI). Mr. Zeze also continued his professional career at the African Development Bank as a senior country credit analyst, and later at the Anglo-Dutch oil multinational company Shell Oil Product Africa, as a regional director of credit risk for West and Central Africa.
Founded in 2007 in Abidjan by Mr. Zeze, Bloomfield Investment Corporation specializes in credit risk assessment, sovereign debt rating and solvency assessment for each of the said countries in the French-speaking area; Bloomfield issues all its sovereign notes in local currency.
Of Ivorian origin and a member of the Association of American Public Administrators, Mr. Zeze holds a degree in business law from the University of Nantes, a bachelor’s degree in political science and economics from Eastern Michigan University and a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Mr. Zeze received the award for the best financier of the year 2016 by Financial Afrik. In 2019, he was decorated as an Officer of the National Order by the Grand Chancellery of Côte d’Ivoire.
Mustafa Rawji is chief executive of Rawbank SA; the largest bank in the Democratic Republic of Congo by the size of its balance sheet of ($3 billion). Founded in 2002, Rawbank SA is an entity of the 14 companies of the conglomerate Rawji Group created in 1922.
Mr. Rawji began his career at Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (formerly Calyon), initially in Geneva, then in Paris. Having supported the creation of Rawbank, he then continued his international banking experience by joining the British banking groups of HSBC and Barclays in Dubai; within the Corporate, Investment & Merchant Banking departments.
Mr. Rawji later joined Rawbank SA as Deputy Secretary General, Chairman of the Credit Committee, Head of the Marketing & Communication Department and Chairman of the Quality Committee. In addition, he then served as Director of Strategic Development, Vice President of the Management Committee and Deputy General Manager, before becoming its Chief Executive in 2020.
Born and raised in Kinshasa, educated in the United Kingdom and the United States, Mr. Rawji is a graduate of the Babson College Business School in Boston, Massachusetts.
Trade, commerce, California winery and mining market
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.
Also, Mr. N’shimba is President and Owner of California-based In Vino Veritas Cellars; producer of the legendary Gravitas Cabernet Sauvignon and distributor around the world of great Californian wines but also of great wines and spirits of unique quality. In addition, Mr. N’shimba was a manager at Citigroup and then an investment banker for Wells Fargo Advisors at the time the largest American bank and a financial group based in San Francisco with assets that today makes it the third largest bank in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company is considered a systemically important financial institution by the Financial Stability Board.
The US Chamber of Commerce and its affiliates Amcham is the largest business federation in the world with over 3,000,000 members. AmCham DRC promotes the development of economic exchanges, trade and investments between the Democratic Republic of Congo and the United States of America. As a platform for meetings, reflections and exchanges, AmCham DRC acts as a link between economic circles in various sectors. AmCham DRC brings together Congolese and American companies as well as economic partners attached to the transatlantic relationship.
A director on the board of directors at the Federation of Enterprises of Congo, Mr. N’shimba is a graduate of College Boboto, a graduate of California State University – East Bay in San Francisco and has an MBA from the University of Phoenix in Arizona.
Mustafa Rawji is chief executive of Rawbank SA; the largest bank in the Democratic Republic of Congo by the size of its balance sheet of ($3 billion). Founded in 2002, Rawbank SA is an entity of the 14 companies of the conglomerate Rawji Group created in 1922.
Mr. Rawji began his career at Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (formerly Calyon), initially in Geneva, then in Paris. Having supported the creation of Rawbank, he then continued his international banking experience by joining the British banking groups of HSBC and Barclays in Dubai; within the Corporate, Investment & Merchant Banking departments.
Mr. Rawji later joined Rawbank SA as Deputy Secretary General, Chairman of the Credit Committee, Head of the Marketing & Communication Department and Chairman of the Quality Committee. In addition, he then served as Director of Strategic Development, Vice President of the Management Committee and Deputy General Manager, before becoming its Chief Executive in 2020.
Born and raised in Kinshasa, educated in the United Kingdom and the United States, Mr. Rawji is a graduate of the Babson College Business School in Boston, Massachusetts.
Blockchain, metaverse, Sillicon Valley, cryptocurrency, Hollywood and NFT
Loudon Owen is Chief Executive and Chairman of the Board of Directors at DLT Labs Inc., a global pioneer in enterprise blockchain; operational in Canada, Japan, India and Singapore.
In 2020, DLT Labs and global retail giant Walmart (NYSE: WMT) launched the world’s largest industrial blockchain application. In early 2022, DLT Labs and Canadian mining company Teck Resources (NYSE: TECK) announced a pilot project using blockchain technology to trace responsibly produced germanium from mine to customer; a world premiere for this strategic mineral.
An international businessman, venture capitalist and lawyer with more than 30 years of experience building businesses around the world, Mr. Owen co-founded McLean Watson Capital, one of the leading venture capital firms in the Canada. Additionally, Mr. Owen has funded, directed and advised Softimage; a Quebec company, world leader in high-end 3D animation that has produced imagery and special effects for legendary Hollywood films including Star Wars, Titanic, The Matrix, Jurassic Park and Men in Black. With decades of experience in technology ventures including deep mining technology, digital innovation, artificial intelligence, XML data management and now blockchain, Mr. Owen is a champion of intellectual property rights recognized by IAM300.
Mr. Owen was also the founder and CEO of Toronto-based i4i, known worldwide for having won a historic and titanic legal battle against the tech dinosaur Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT). In 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld on appeal a record $290 million verdict in favor of i4i against the world’s largest software company for infringing a technology patent relating to Microsoft Word and XML. Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote the final opinion of the case and President Barack Obama’s administration and Mr. Owen’s i4i opposed Bill Gates’ Microsoft position. (United States of America Supreme Court: Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Limited Partnership & Infrastructures for Information Inc. Case No. 10-290).
Mr. Owen holds a BA, JD (Osgoode Hall Law School) from the University of Toronto, and holds an MBA from INSEAD in Fontainebleau.
Kamoa, Kakula, copper, Robert Friedland, Ivanhoe, Kipushi, Katanga
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 mine discovery at Oyu Tolgoi, Mongolia.
Mr. Friedland got his start as the CEO of Galactic Resources Ltd. Raising over $300 million in investments, he established a gold mine at Summitville, Colorado. 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 platinum-palladium-gold-nickel-copper from Platreef 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-silver-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. Estimations have Ivanhoe Mines valued at $18 billion as of 2024. 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.
During the 1990s, Mr. Friedland was an early key investor in Sina.com, now the largest Chinese-language online infotainment web portal. Ivanhoe Capital, his family’s private company specializing in providing venture capital and project financing for international companies, provided the founding venture capital for the American company Sirius Satellite Radio, which later made SiriusXM the largest radio company in the world which now has more than 31 million satellite and online subscribers. Mr. Friedland is co-founder of I-Pulse; private American company based in Toulouse, expert in electrical energy supplying disruptive industrial solutions.
Mr Friedland is co-chairman of the board of Clean TeQ, an Australian-listed company providing innovative and sustainable solutions for metal recovery and water treatment. Additionally, Mr. Friedland founded and chairs Ivanhoe Pictures, based in Hollywood, California, with offices in Beijing and New York. Launched in 2013, Ivanhoe Pictures finances and produces film and television projects that garner broad appeal among international audiences; the company is currently co-producing with partners in India, South Korea and China. In 2018, Mr. Friedland co-financed the film “Crazy Rich Asians,” and in 2020 he served as an executive producer on the film “Palmer” with Justin Timberlake.
In 2021, Mr. Friedland created Ivanhoe Electric. In January 2023, Ivanhoe Electric partnered with Saudi Arabian mining giant Ma’aden to explore metals essential to the global energy transition. Based in Riyadh, Ma’aden will invest $126.4 million in the capital of Ivanhoe Electric, which gives the largest mining group in the Gulf a 9.9% stake in the American company based in Arizona. According to aggregate calculations from the American magazine Forbes dating from January 2024, Mr. Friedland’s updated assets are valued at $2.9 billion. Mr. Friedland greatly contributed to shaping the personality of Steve Jobs, visionary American inventor and co-founder of Apple.inc; when both were students at Reed College.
Chicago-born, international mining legend, Singapore-based mining magnate and multiple billionaire, Mr. Friedland holds a degree in political science from Reed College, Oregon, USA . He was recognized by the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame in 2016, and the American Mining Hall of Fame in 2021.
Integrated solutions, mechanized mining, sous-traitance, research and engineering
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. Meya began his career at AGS Worldwide Movers before moving to the Anglo-Dutch oil multinational; Shell, as a credit analyst. With this experience, the American multinational Cummins recruited him as a business developer in Central Africa. He then joined the German multinational Bosh, as Head of Mining & Cross-Selling for the entire African continent; thus developing the company’s activity in more than 24 countries in Africa. A multi-faceted entrepreneur, Mr. Meya is also Managing Director of the investment company Kongo Investments Group and Strategic Director of Smart Africa 4.0.
Mr. Meya is President of the Congolese Association of Subcontractors. According to a study by the Regulatory Authority for Subcontracting in the Private Sector (ARSP) dating from 2023, $8 billion escapes each year from the State, which is now seeking to diversify its economy by creating a middle class
Mr. Meya holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa.
Ore refining, private equity, mineral stockpiles, Katanga, merger & acquisition
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.
Lugamines Sarl is a Congolese mining company founded in 2018. The company leverages on its sister companies Express Oil and Ratco to develop and manage mining projects, based either on its own capital or on third party selected investor funds focusing on copper and cobalt mining concessions, ore refining and mineral stockpiles (“remblais” in French).
Mr. Mesnil is a graduate of Ecole Spéciale Militaire de Saint Cyr (Aspirant Parachutiste) and holds a Master’s degree of Université Paris Dauphine – PSL in Paris, France.
Financial services, global banking, New York, interest rates and multinational corporation
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 banks based in Congo.
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.
Mr. Mulamba joined Citi in 2007 as Deputy CEO, Board of Director, Head of Markets and Country Treasurer for the DRC. Previously, Mr. Mulamba was a senior financial analyst at Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation in Dallas, Texas, and held the same position at consulting firm Accenture. Additionally, Mr. Mulamba worked for Citi Capital Relocation in Irving, Texas and began his career with American Market Connection in Boston, Massachusetts.
Mr. Mulamba holds a Masters in Applied Economics from the University of Liège, Belgium, and a Masters in Banking and Finance from the University Evry Val-d’Essonne (Paris-Saclay), France.
Economics, credit rating agency, Côte d'Ivoire and sovereign debt
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. Still in Washington D.C., he joined the International Institute for Economics as a Director of Projects, and then the National Bank of Detroit as a Director of Risks for Small and Medium Enterprises – Small and Medium Industries (PME-PMI). Mr. Zeze also continued his professional career at the African Development Bank as a senior country credit analyst, and later at the Anglo-Dutch oil multinational company Shell Oil Product Africa, as a regional director of credit risk for West and Central Africa.
Founded in 2007 in Abidjan by Mr. Zeze, Bloomfield Investment Corporation specializes in credit risk assessment, sovereign debt rating and solvency assessment for each of the said countries in the French-speaking area; Bloomfield issues all its sovereign notes in local currency.
Of Ivorian origin and a member of the Association of American Public Administrators, Mr. Zeze holds a degree in business law from the University of Nantes, a bachelor’s degree in political science and economics from Eastern Michigan University and a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Mr. Zeze received the award for the best financier of the year 2016 by Financial Afrik. In 2019, he was decorated as an Officer of the National Order by the Grand Chancellery of Côte d’Ivoire.
Trade, commerce, California winery and mining market
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.
Also, Mr. N’shimba is President and Owner of California-based In Vino Veritas Cellars; producer of the legendary Gravitas Cabernet Sauvignon and distributor around the world of great Californian wines but also of great wines and spirits of unique quality. In addition, Mr. N’shimba was a manager at Citigroup and then an investment banker for Wells Fargo Advisors at the time the largest American bank and a financial group based in San Francisco with assets that today makes it the third largest bank in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company is considered a systemically important financial institution by the Financial Stability Board.
The US Chamber of Commerce and its affiliates Amcham is the largest business federation in the world with over 3,000,000 members. AmCham DRC promotes the development of economic exchanges, trade and investments between the Democratic Republic of Congo and the United States of America. As a platform for meetings, reflections and exchanges, AmCham DRC acts as a link between economic circles in various sectors. AmCham DRC brings together Congolese and American companies as well as economic partners attached to the transatlantic relationship.
A director on the board of directors at the Federation of Enterprises of Congo, Mr. N’shimba is a graduate of College Boboto, a graduate of California State University – East Bay in San Francisco and has an MBA from the University of Phoenix in Arizona.
Banking, finance, natural resources, international investments
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.
Established 160 years ago, Standard Bank is part of Standard Bank Group, the largest banking group in Africa by market capitalization, assets, equity, balance sheet and international wingspan; the group is present in more than 30 countries around the world, including 20 in Africa.
In 2007, the Chinese state-owned bank and the world’s largest bank by assets ($5.4 trillion) Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) acquired a 20% stake ($5.5 billion) in Standard Bank. The largest investment bank in the Democratic Republic of Congo since 1992, Standard Bank is a specialist in natural resources and responsible for major strategic deals in the Congolese mining sector having financed several big projects in recent years.
Of Italian descent and born in South Africa, Mr. Anniciello graduated from the South African Institute of Management, in Johannesburg.
Mustafa Rawji is chief executive of Rawbank SA; the largest bank in the Democratic Republic of Congo by the size of its balance sheet of ($3 billion). Founded in 2002, Rawbank SA is an entity of the 14 companies of the conglomerate Rawji Group created in 1922.
Mr. Rawji began his career at Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (formerly Calyon), initially in Geneva, then in Paris. Having supported the creation of Rawbank, he then continued his international banking experience by joining the British banking groups of HSBC and Barclays in Dubai; within the Corporate, Investment & Merchant Banking departments.
Mr. Rawji later joined Rawbank SA as Deputy Secretary General, Chairman of the Credit Committee, Head of the Marketing & Communication Department and Chairman of the Quality Committee. In addition, he then served as Director of Strategic Development, Vice President of the Management Committee and Deputy General Manager, before becoming its Chief Executive in 2020.
Born and raised in Kinshasa, educated in the United Kingdom and the United States, Mr. Rawji is a graduate of the Babson College Business School in Boston, Massachusetts.
Banking, finance, natural resources, international investments
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.
Established 160 years ago, Standard Bank is part of Standard Bank Group, the largest banking group in Africa by market capitalization, assets, equity, balance sheet and international wingspan; the group is present in more than 30 countries around the world, including 20 in Africa.
In 2007, the Chinese state-owned bank and the world’s largest bank by assets ($5.4 trillion) Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) acquired a 20% stake ($5.5 billion) in Standard Bank. The largest investment bank in the Democratic Republic of Congo since 1992, Standard Bank is a specialist in natural resources and responsible for major strategic deals in the Congolese mining sector having financed several big projects in recent years.
Of Italian descent and born in South Africa, Mr. Anniciello graduated from the South African Institute of Management, in Johannesburg.
Copper, cobalt, Congo and the new green economy
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.
Further, he also worked for AngloGold Ashanti and De Beers Consolidated Mines in Ghana, Mali, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa. Mr. Ilunga is an Associate of the College of General Accountants at the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants and holds an MBA from the Graduate School of Business of the University of Cape Town, South Africa.
Copper, cobalt, Congo and the new green economy
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.
Further, he also worked for AngloGold Ashanti and De Beers Consolidated Mines in Ghana, Mali, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa. Mr. Ilunga is an Associate of the College of General Accountants at the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants and holds an MBA from the Graduate School of Business of the University of Cape Town, South Africa.
Yves Ilunga AGA (SA) is Chief Executive of Glencore’s Mutanda Mining SARL, 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.
Further, he also worked for AngloGold Ashanti and De Beers Consolidated Mines in Ghana, Mali, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa. Mr. Ilunga is an Associate of the College of General Accountants at the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants and holds an MBA from the Graduate School of Business of the University of Cape Town, South Africa.
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