Earning the support and trust of the community surrounding the Malaika school in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was vital in its early days, and still is today, says the non-profit’s founder and philanthropist, Noëlla Coursaris Musunka.



In the heart of Kalebuka – a village in Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) – the Malaika school, which opened its doors in 2011, has just celebrated its first graduation.



Empowering girls through education has been a key focus of the grassroots non-profit organization and founder, model and philanthropist, Noëlla Coursaris Musunka tells FORBES AFRICA that having the support structure that she has, has been vital.



“It has been challenging to help the community recognize the value of girls’ education when it has been a part of their culture to prioritize boys’ education and expect girls to do domestic duties only.



“When we gather the community to play sports we teach them about equality, social cohesion and the value of education. This has helped them to recognize why girls should be educated and to be supportive of this,” she says.



The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) estimated that the out-of-school population in sub-Saharan Africa reached 98 million in 2021.



However, the organization noted that “important data gaps have been filled in countries that have large out of school numbers but where no administrative data of good quality has been available for over a decade”. This included the DRC (5.9 million).


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/ROB3606-1024x681.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-59153" style="width:662px;height:440px" width="662" height="440" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/ROB3606-1024x681.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/ROB3606-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/ROB3606-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/ROB3606.jpg 1500w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 662px) 100vw, 662px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"> Noëlla and a student. Image Supplied. </figcaption></figure></div>


Since its establishment, Malaika has developed into a primary and secondary school, and a community center and organic farm has been added, along with the refurbishment of 30 wells in the area.



“It has been extremely important to earn the trust and support of the community. Our mission is to empower girls and their communities and if community members were not interested in taking part then our work would have had minimal impact,” Musunka says.



“Our school, and our community center that provides vocational education and training to youth and adults, have been better because of the community’s help and support.&nbsp;Having their buy-in with our community center where they come to play sport and learning together has been wonderful to see and when whole families come and benefit from education, the girls at our school benefit even more.”



She also emphasizes that the support of the community was vital in getting the girls to school in the early days, and that many have been volunteers and helped to maintain the premises and land over the years.&nbsp;



Students at the school receive Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education and can learn concepts like VPL, Blockly and Scratch languages as well as other basic and advanced computer skills.



Along with this, the school teaches sustainable farming practices and ensures that the community has access to basic needs, like clean drinking water, all of which can give the community what it needs to uplift itself in the long-term.



“I would like to see more investment in education and community development. Malaika is a sustainable ecosystem that can be duplicated in any context and we have created a toolkit in order to support others to create a similar provision in their communities.



“I would also love to see more focus on sustainable development. There also needs to be a holistic emphasis, including focus on infrastructure and health needs. There needs to be provision that can empower a community with lasting change,” says Musunka, who lives in the United Kingdom with her husband and children, and was named one of the BBC’s 100 Most Influential &amp; Inspirational Women in 2017.



As a mom, a feminist, and a believer in the right to access to education, health, and opportunity, her advice to young girls and women on the continent is to bet on yourself and aim high.



“Keep working hard and don’t give up even if things don’t seem to be going your way, just keep following your passion.”

_ROB7761

Pushing For Change In The DRC: School-Founder On The Challenges And Rewards Of Prioritizing Girls’ Education

I love fashion. It’s not just part of my job as an international model, it’s a way of expressing myself and my cultural heritage. I am inspired and excited by the creativity of designers and the variety of fashion choices we can have available to us. Africa has many talented designers who are being recognized on a global scale. Just recently, African designer Kenneth Ize shared the exciting news that he will be collaborating with the Karl Lagerfeld fashion house to co-create the spring 2021 capsule collection.



Yet, when it comes to sustainability, the fashion industry has a lot of work to do. The fast fashion industry that originated in the West has accelerated fashion’s negative environmental and social impact. According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the fashion industry uses more energy than the aviation and shipping industries put together. It also states that the industry produces about 20% of global waste water and 85% of textiles end up in landfills or are incinerated when most of these materials could be re-used. Add to this the fact that fashion is also one of the biggest employers of forced labor, and the picture is pretty grim.



Now transport this to Africa, which is already experiencing the impact of climate change and though many African countries are pioneering the fight against plastic – some have made plastic bags illegal for example – we still have plenty to do to ensure we build sustainable businesses, especially in the fashion industry.



For me, sustainability is ultimately about trying to maintain our human existence and we can’t sit back and leave it to others, and this brings me to Malaika.



Malaika is the grassroots non-profit I founded in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Its mission is to empower a community of people through education and health programs. It now comprises a school for over 346 girls and a community center that provides education and sport for development programs to 5,000 youth and adults, and we built and refurbished 20 wells that serve over 30,000 people with clean water. We have built Malaika over the past 13 years with sustainability in mind, and to us, it means using minimal resources and using them well.



Our IT suite, school and community center are powered by solar energy. In 2017, we set up our small farm where we teach organic farming and the food produced supplies the school canteen. We engage the community in a big clean-up of the village each month and our students plant trees and learn about the environment. Education is key to empowering people but it’s also key to changing our environmental impact. We are producing the leaders of tomorrow and we want them to be equipped to make an even bigger positive impact on our global carbon footprint than we have.



What can we do to reduce the effects of climate change? Firstly, I believe we, as consumers, need to hold more businesses to account. I try to do modeling campaigns with brands that are ethical and care about giving back because sustainability, to me, is also about the people who make our clothes. According to CARE International, an organization fighting global poverty, 75% of garment sector workers are women and the Covid-19 pandemic has led to brands cancelling big orders with suppliers leading to many workers losing jobs.



So, what can we as individuals do? We need to change the way we shop and ask more questions about how our favorite brands are producing their clothes. We need to take the time to investigate who is making them, what their working conditions are, and what they get paid. When I buy clothing or accessories, I ensure they are items I love and can see how they will fit in with the other clothes I own. HURR is the world’s leading fashion rental platform and I use it to rent clothes for events so I can wear a one-off piece or luxury brand item without buying it. A website I always check is eco-age.com for the latest news on global supply chains, artisanal brands, community projects and suggestions on which brands to shop. Finally, take a look at the United Nation’s ActNow climate action campaign for practical tips on how you can make a difference.



Start today. It takes time and effort to change our habits but every step we take towards sustainability will help change the world for future generations.



– By Noella Coursaris Musunka; an international model, philanthropist and founder of Malaika, a grassroots non-profit in the DRC.

Neolla at Malaika

Re-Use Clothes, Buy Ethically And Build Sustainability Into  The Fashion Industry

The power of fashion as a tool for social change is being realized in a tiny town in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where suffering is being swapped with style and self-worth.



Deep in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), lies the town of Bukavu, home to a community of women survivors of violence.



Since it first opened its doors, this transformational leadership community called the City of Joy, has graduated 1,380 women leaders. Here, women are healed from their past trauma through therapy and life skills programming and provided with essential ingredients to move forward in life, supported by love and community.



The program welcomes 90 survivors of gender violence aged between 18 and 30 at a time.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://www.forbeswomanafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/City-of-Joy-Bukavu-DRC-CREDIT-MARC-SILVER-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-41534"/></figure>



Recently, specialist Dutch fabric maker, Vlisco, was asked to create a fashion collection to honor the women of the City of Joy and the surgeon who works with them, 2018’s Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr Denis Mukwege.



Five international designers worked with 15 City of Joy graduates to create a collection of empowering and personalized garments using new fabrics.



The fabrics consist of five traditionally printed super-wax patterns incorporating 100 different, vivid colors.



The collection was showcased at a gala event in front of a global audience in Kinshasa in November last year to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and all proceeds from the sale of the collection donated to the City of Joy.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://www.forbeswomanafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/City-of-Joy-graduate-models-an-outfit-created-by-Tolu-Coker-using-the-City-of-Joy-collection-fabric_3-Photo-credit-–-Vlisco-1024x684.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-41535"/></figure>



David Suddens, CEO of Vlisco, told FORBES WOMAN AFRICA that the five international designers, all African women, were keen to join the company’s efforts to help the women of the eastern Congo.



“They were immediately engaged even though they were not
initially aware of the City of Joy and the scale of the rape and brutality.
Once they had met the women, they formed a bond of love and respect.”



Suddens continues: “It was a real pleasure to work with the five designers; they not only created and made the garments in a very short period of time, they flew great distances to be with the women (one interrupted her family vacation in the United States to be in the DRC) and they made a huge impact on the women they designed for. The bond was palpable.”



The designers wrote to Suddens and Gabriela Sanchez, a Mexican Dutch designer and head of creative projects at Vlisco: “Thank you so much for changing not only our lives this year with this experience but also thank you for connecting us with these amazing women, with compelling stories and divine souls. You’re both a blessing to us.” The founder of City of Joy, Christine Schuler, told Suddens and Sanchez that many people visit the community, but “nobody has understood us like you have”.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“The beauty of the Congolese landscape is depicted; its river, its forests, its nature. From the dark roots of the forest, slowly flowers start to grow, butterflies appear, birds are in the sky and the sun is glimpsed behind the clouds.</blockquote>



Asked about the impact of the designs and this collaboration
on the community, Suddens says: “The designs are related to the lives and
suffering and hope and courage of the women in the City of Joy. You needed to
see their faces light up when they first saw the designs. They were overjoyed.”



The main stories expressed in the fabric designs are
fundamentally about the journey from pain to power. 



“The designs, at the bottom, are somber, twisted, even
menacing. But, as the eye moves upwards, there is gradually more light and the
images symbolize hope and respect and love,” Suddens explains. 



“The beauty of the Congolese landscape is depicted; its
river, its forests, its nature. From the dark roots of the forest, slowly
flowers start to grow, butterflies appear, birds are in the sky and the sun is
glimpsed behind the clouds.



“In one design sits a lion, dignified and rather sad, symbolizing Dr Mukwege. In another, sisterhood is portrayed, with intertwined threads joining ‘hands’ as they grow lighter but stronger. And two designs depict the beauty of the vagina, full of flowers against the dark background of the universe.”



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://www.forbeswomanafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Vlisco-designer-Gabriela-Sanchez-y-Sanchez-de-la-Barquera-stands-with-designers-Oritsegbubemi-Ogisi-Abiola-Adeniran-Olusola-Tolu-Coker-Aisha-Ayensu-Rebecca-Zoro-Photo-credit-–-Vlisco-1024x684.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-41538"/></figure>



FORBES WOMAN AFRICA also spoke to international designer
Aisha Ayensu, the founder and creative director of fashion brand Christie Brown
known as a player in the rise of contemporary African fashion since its
inception 11 years ago. 



“This project gave me first-hand insight into how fashion
can be used as a tool for social change but most importantly, meeting these
remarkable women, sharing in their joy and appreciating where they’ve come from
and their journey from pain to power has completely altered the way I view my
work and my purpose,” says Ayensu.



She recalls her experience in Kinshasa as magical. “It was
important that the gala event highlighted their power and recovery more than
the atrocities the women faced, but all the same, raising awareness of what may
still be going on and how we can help stop violence against women.”



“I had an experience with one of the ladies in Bukavu, when
she did her first fitting&#8230; The sheer joy and excitement on her face when she
saw her outfit and exclaimed in local language ‘for me?’ In disbelief. When she
put it on and saw a picture of herself, she started to cry tears of joy and
also started saying ‘is this me, today look at me, I am also somebody’. That
reaction was priceless. When fashion and design is deliberate and well thought
out, it has the power to elevate a woman in ways you can’t imagine.”



Added Suddens: “Never could they have imagined wearing their
own designs made into garments by African designers. To understand, you need to
see their faces. You need to see them literally dancing with joy.”&nbsp; 



-Jill De Villiers

City of Joy graduates walk the catwalk in Kinshasa to launch the City of Joy Collection (1)

Clothes Encounters In The Congo: How Fashion Can Be Used As A Tool For Social Change

It was confidently billed at the time as the “deal of the century”. The Sino Congolaise des Mines (Sicomines) was the most significant Chinese investment project in Africa when it was agreed in 2007.



The infrastructure agreement gave Chinese partners mining rights to cobalt and copper in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). These minerals are used in electric vehicle batteries and electronics, including smartphones and laptops. In exchange, China agreed to build much-needed infrastructure projects such as urban roads, highways and hospitals.



In addition to new infrastructure, the Sicomines deal was expected to provide a significant boost to the DRC’s economic growth. The view was that the agreed volumes of mineral production would contribute to higher levels of exports, tax revenue and inflow of US dollars.



READ MORE | <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2019/03/19/in-pictures-noella-coursaris-musunka-the-trailblazer-in-the-congo/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Noëlla Coursaris Musunka The Trailblazer In The Congo (opens in a new tab)">Noëlla Coursaris Musunka The Trailblazer In The Congo</a>



More than a decade on, the Sicomines deal has not lived up to expectations. There have been infrastructure project delays as well as unexpected costs. There have also been problems associated with poor quality roads and infrastructure and inadequate environment and social impact studies.



On the economic front, mineral exports from the DRC&nbsp;<a href="http://www.intracen.org/country/democratic-republic-of-the-congo/">have indeed risen steeply</a>. But sharp cyclical fluctuations show that the country is heavily reliant on both the Chinese market and the price of a few minerals. In addition, the Sicomines deal won exemption from taxes until infrastructure and mining loans were fully repaid. This means that the DRC will not receive any substantial income from the agreement in the foreseeable future.



The Sicomines agreement demonstrates one of the main problems with deals of this nature. It never included any guarantee of the actual value that the Congolese population would get in exchange for the country’s main source of wealth.



As we argue in a recent International Affairs article, the Sicomines deal provides lessons for other African countries. Future deals like this present an opportunity to change the model followed in Sicomines and by most Sino-African trade relations. This has, to date, essentially involved China supplying value-added manufactured goods and high-skilled workers. In exchange, African countries have agreed to export mainly primary-based resource products. And African workers are hired for unskilled, low-cost tasks.



It needn’t be this way.



READ MORE | <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wealth/2019/04/08/from-medicine-to-nanotechnology-how-gold-quietly-shapes-our-world/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label=" (opens in a new tab)">From Medicine To Nanotechnology: How Gold Quietly Shapes Our World</a>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Protecting the host country’s interests</h4>



The first decade of the deal shows that Chinese companies have focused their efforts on benefiting from access to valuable natural resources. But the interests of local communities have been neglected.



In addition, several of the problems affecting the building of infrastructure have arisen because quality control responsibility was assigned to the same two Chinese companies responsible for execution. These were China Railway Engineering Company and Sinohydro, a large state-owned hydropower and engineering company.



This highlights the potential trap of these deals. The level of contribution to development depends, to a great extent, on the ability of inexpert local institutions to manage complex multilateral projects.



There is a solution to this. Host countries should create committees of experts, if necessary with regional and international support. Alternatively, they could contract independent specialised consultants to guarantee that national interests are satisfied.



READ MORE | <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/economy/2019/01/16/ford-and-ibm-among-quartet-in-congo-cobalt-blockchain-project/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Ford and IBM among quartet in Congo cobalt blockchain project (opens in a new tab)">Ford and IBM among quartet in Congo cobalt blockchain project</a>



Instead of negotiating with a unique consortium of companies, these teams would participate in the development of a public procurement process to award the project to the most competitive bidder. Additionally, the committees would be in charge of monitoring implementation of the contract. This could include extraction works, quality of infrastructure, compliance with environmental and social standards.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Learning through small pioneer initiatives</h4>



China has shown that it is ready to take risks and engage in enormous African infrastructure development projects. And that it’s prepared to do this even when western donors are not willing to allocate funds.



To some extent, China’s favourable attitude towards deals such as the Sicomines agreement is based on the same logic as the infrastructure loans received from Japan in the 1980s. These were mutually beneficial: they fostered Japan’s development and they were very lucrative for Japanese firms.



But there are many potential complications with the multi-billion dollar resource-backed credits offered by China to African countries recovering from conflict.



With this in mind, African countries could take a more incremental approach. They could foster development through a process of gradual reforms, implemented through several pioneering small deals.



READ MORE | <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/economy/2017/09/06/china-really-helping-africa/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Is China Really Helping Africa? (opens in a new tab)">Is China Really Helping Africa?</a>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Changes that are needed</h4>



Any new agreements should include precise objectives and financial resources to guarantee training and upskilling for workers.



In parallel, the terms of the agreement should create the conditions for the transfer of know-how in a way that helps local companies to move to higher value added activities.



African governments could take into account China’s experience. The Chinese government decided that in some strategic sectors (such as the automotive sector), foreign investors had to create a joint venture with a Chinese partner to enter the market. This strategy has contributed to the emergence of several competitive domestic firms and national champions.



Finally, as economic diversification prompts an increase in GDP per capita, additional taxes collected from extracting industries could be invested in other economic activities to promote development.



The model has the potential to enable projects that would otherwise be impossible in fragile and conflict-affected African economies. But the Sicomines deal shows that it’s necessary to address particular challenges if China’s new financing schemes are to accelerate development in Africa.



&#8211;Andoni Maiza Larrarte; Professor, Department of Applied Economics I, UPV/EHU, Universidad del País Vasco / Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea



&#8211;Gloria Claudio-Quiroga; Associate Professor of Economics at Francisco de Vitoria University in Madrid., Universidad Francisco de Vitoria



-The Conversation



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gettyimages-960743648-170667a

The DRC And China’s Sicomines: Why Future Deals Should Be Different

The story of love, loss and triumph. The story of humanitarian, model and mother, Noëlla Coursaris Musunka.



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



This is a tale of generational loss. A tale about how, at the tender age of five, a child lost everything she held dear. She lost her mother, her father, familiar surroundings and was relocated from the country she’d come to know as her home. However, in losing so much, she seemed to have gained everything and insists on sharing it with others. 



After the death of her father, when Noëlla Coursaris Musunka was five years old, her mother could not afford to keep her and was forced to give her only child (at the time) away in hopes that she would get better opportunities. 



Musunka moved to Belgium, and later Switzerland, and was away for 13 years with very little communication with her mother back home in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). 



READ MORE |<a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/current-affairs/2018/12/20/ravaged-by-ebola-and-war-congo-named-most-neglected-crisis-of-2018/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Ravaged by Ebola and War, Congo Named Most Neglected Crisis of 2018 (opens in a new tab)">Ravaged by Ebola and War, Congo Named Most Neglected Crisis of 2018</a> 



“It was a tough time… I received two or three letters from my mom and spoke to her only twice on the phone,” says Musunka. On her return, at 18 years, she was so struck by the abject poverty that she vowed to contribute to the education of her brothers and sisters, and would give back to her country. 



And she has done so in spectacular fashion. 



Musunka has since had a flourishing career as a model and has graced the pages of fashion magazines like Vogue, Vanity Fair, Marie Claire and Elle. The exposure propelled her to pursue her passion for humanitarian and philanthropic work. 



When asked about what accolades, such as the one she received from the Nelson Mandela Foundation (in November 2018) and the Enhle Cares Foundation, mean to her, Musunka beams and says: “It’s very special. I’m a pan-Africanist. I love Patrick Lumumba, I love Mandela, I love Sankara. I love all these revolutionary people… who want the best for Africa… The spirit of Mandela is [his] legacy. When people remember Noëlla, I want them to remember my legacy. And my legacy and my message is to give back.” 



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="959" height="719" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/The-School-She-built-in-The-DRC.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-39746" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/The-School-She-built-in-The-DRC.jpg 959w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/The-School-She-built-in-The-DRC-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/The-School-She-built-in-The-DRC-600x450.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/The-School-She-built-in-The-DRC-768x576.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 959px) 100vw, 959px" /><figcaption>The Malaika school. Picture: Supplied</figcaption></figure>



“I’m very happy that the Mandela family contacted me and said ‘this is what our dad would want. You are a young woman investing in education and that’s the reason we want to honor you’. It’s very touching and I’m not into awards, but this one is very special.” 



Since founding the non-profit organization Malaika in 2007, it has grown from a one-room school house to a world-class school that accommodates 314 students of all ages. As the school continues to operate, it plans on adding approximately 30 girls each year. 



The Malaika Foundation, which is in the village of Kalebuka, in the southeastern region of the DRC, has also established a community learning center, recreational facilities, 17 water wells and farm land. 



This is due to the tenacity and collaborative efforts of 31 Congolese staff members working on the ground in the DRC, and support from a team of 30 volunteers working in the US, Europe, the DRC and other locations. In Kalebuka, the community plays an integral role in the daily running of the school. 



“We have 30 parents a day who come to maintain the school. The whole community is driven. The village takes care of the program and protects it. The community center is good because it’s also important to teach the parents. We have the youth and the parents who come to the community center to learn to read, write, sew, and we have key messages. We also distribute malaria nets. 



“So, we have 5,000 people who go there and all programs are free. The school is for free. The staff [members] give of their time, their skills and their money. We have a pro-bono lawyer, pro-bono auditing … [and] we teach the mothers to make the uniforms. We give the girls underwear, socks and shoes.” 



The colloquail term ‘say it with your chest’, means to say something with determination, self-assurance and without fear. During her interview with FORBES WOMAN AFRICA at the Da Vinci Hotel in Sandton in Johannesburg in November, Musunka was wearing a t-shirt with the word ‘Revolution’ across it. The education revolution has swept the village of Kalebuka, in the form for Musunka and her team. 







“Two years in a row, we [Malaika School] have passed the national test. The minister of education came to our school and said, ‘this is an excellent school’. We really want to create scientists, businesswomen, politicians, presidents and journalists.” 



The developments go beyond the classroom, and focus on the holistic care of pupils. 



In 2018, the International Rescue Committee named the DRC one of the countries “most at risk of humanitarian catastrophe”. Similarly, according to the Reuters Foundation, “six of 21 agencies polled, including WFP, Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam, ActionAid, International Rescue Committee, and Christian Aid, named Congo as the most neglected crisis”. 



The ongoing conflict and rampant spread of Ebola are among the reasons the DRC tops humanitarian crises. 



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="682" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Scholars-at-the-School-She-Built-1024x682.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-39748" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Scholars-at-the-School-She-Built-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Scholars-at-the-School-She-Built-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Scholars-at-the-School-She-Built-600x399.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Scholars-at-the-School-She-Built-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Scholars-at-the-School-She-Built.jpg 1280w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption> Pupils at the Malaika school. Picture: Supplied </figcaption></figure>



For many of the pupils, the school serves a lifeline in a country where little to no assistance is offered during a time of crisis. 



“The trust that the parents have in the school is very touching. One of the students came to me and said, ‘Noëlla, I’ve been at this school for eight years, and the school changed my life… I cannot believe that in four years, I will have to leave’. That’s their home. That’s their refuge. Taking care of the school is motivating [for them]. 



 “I want critical thinkers. I want them inspired by the beauty around them. They have music, they have sports, they have leadership classes, they have people from all over the world who come to talk to them,” says Musunka. 



READ MORE | <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/current-affairs/2019/02/02/education-quality-and-the-youth-skills-gap-are-marring-progress-in-africa/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Education Quality and the Youth Skills Gap Are Marring Progress in Africa (opens in a new tab)">Education Quality and the Youth Skills Gap Are Marring Progress in Africa</a>



Due to conflict and other humanitarian challenges in the DRC, news reports about the nation have predominantly been about discord. Musunka says the socio-political challenges should be viewed with nuance. 



“Where we are in the southern east [of Congo], there is no conflict, but Congo is a very challenging country. It’s an economic war, not a civil war. It affects us, in a way, when we have to raise funds because the only press [coverage] that people see is the conflict, the rape, [and] the minerals. 



“The question is, who’s behind this conflict? Who’s giving arms to the rebels? Who’s destabilizing the country? Who’s taking the minerals? For me, when I see all of that, the only way to elevate Congo is through quality education… And, these minerals of conflict need to be minerals of peace, minerals of transformation, minerals of elevating the country and being invested in the people. 



“Right now the minerals don’t benefit the people, they don’t benefit the health system, the infrastructure, the education, and people live under one dollar a day, and seven million children are out of school.” 



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1365" height="2048" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/4-683x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-39747" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/4-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/4-300x450.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/4-600x900.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/4-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/4-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/4.jpg 1365w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1365px) 100vw, 1365px" /><figcaption> Humanitarian, model and mother, Noëlla Coursaris Musunka. Picture: Franklin Thompson </figcaption></figure>



The overwhelming reports of discord and conflict about the DRC have not gone unnoticed by Musunka, who is often invited to speak at events about her work. She says that beyond Malaika, she would like to create a different image of Africa. 



“When I go on stage, I’m not Congolese, I’m proudly African. And, there are a lot of women who are doing [just] as well on the ground, but they don’t have the opportunity to come [and speak]. It is this woman that I’m representing.” 



Educating a girl child is important to her, as she would like to see the narrative and perception of African women change. “If you invest in a girl child she will be less likely to be affected by HIV. She will invest in her community. She will take care of her family, probably her country and her continent…” 



Musunka’s parting words to African women and girls are as follows: “Give 100% in everything that you do. This is our time. This is our call to stand, to have a place in society, and let’s have a voice. There’s a proverb, ‘if you go alone you don’t go far, but if you go together, you go far’.”

Noella

Noëlla Coursaris Musunka The Trailblazer In The Congo

Esther Mbabazi was eight when her father died in a plane crash in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This could have deterred her childhood dream of being a pilot. It didn’t and Mbabazi found comfort in the skies.
“We don’t stop driving because loved ones die in car crashes, why stop now? However it just made me realize the value of lives I have on board, so safety is definitely a big deal to me as a pilot.”
Safety is important in most passengers’ minds when turbulence hits. Usually there is a reassuring announcement made by a mature male. Many passengers are surprised when they hear a female voice saying:  “Ladies and gentlemen this is your captain speaking. We are experiencing a bit of turbulence on our descent. Just sit back we’ll be landing shortly.”
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In 2013, Mbabazi became Rwanda’s first female commercial pilot. It was a dream that began at the age of four where she would see planes take off from Bujumbura airport, close to her home in Burundi. At the age of seven, she took her first flight on a family trip to the Unites States (US). It was love at first flight.
“I didn’t get to go into the cockpit but I knew this is where I belonged, back then they’d give kids back packs and I was just an excited child on the Virgin Atlantic.”
After high school, Mbabazi started training at Soroti Flight School, also known as East Africa Civil Aviation Academy, in Uganda where only two women made it through. She secured a scholarship from RwandAir to continue her commercial license training in the US.
“At Flight Safety Academy in the US, the number [of female students] was bigger. There were up to 20 female students from all over the world including the first female Saudi Arabian pilot, Hanadi Hindi among others from Asia, Europe and South America. There were about 10 female instructors and the chief pilot, Nancy Ritter, was a female too. But as many as we were we didn’t even make up 5 percent of the academy.”
Two and a half years later, Mbabazi made it.
“Making history was not my goal, achieving my goals is what I delight in, like I said, do what you love and people may appreciate it. After getting my commercial license I didn’t celebrate, I was looking forward to the next cockpit I’ll get into. This, for me, is my way of celebrating, flying!”
Mbabazi believes she is in the minority because of the belief that flying is a man’s job. She is delighted that she has paved the way for many dreamers in proving the critics wrong.
“I like to view my challenges as the reasons to celebrate having reached my goal. As a woman in a male dominated field, no doubt, you have to prove yourself, but hard work always pays off.”
Mbabazi is among many women in Rwanda who are the backbone of the country. Rwanda is going through great lengths to rebuild itself from the 1994 genocide, which left a dominant female population of an estimated 51%.
Laws have been set in place to provide more gender equality in the country. Women are allowed to own land and take more initiative in business and in politics. Rwanda has the highest number of women in parliament in the world and was the first country to have more than 50 female members of parliament.
And now there is a woman in the air.

Love At First Flight

The neighborhoods surrounding Tel Aviv’s old central bus station are littered with broken dreams, false promises and aching poverty. But one person here, at least, is living her dream.
It is to these Israeli streets that tens of thousands of African refugees have flocked, grateful to be alive but struggling to make ends meet. In one of the alleys, a broken gate signals to me that I’ve arrived. Here, in a two-bedroomed apartment, 30-year-old Faida Bakaji Tshuma is a ray of hope in a place where hope itself seems a luxury.
Six years ago Tshuma arrived in Israel with her family, political refugees from Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Her parents were being threatened with prison, or worse, for their political activities and Jerusalem’s arms were open to those seeking asylum. Tshuma had just finished her university studies and the world seemed promising.
“I was very happy. It was like a dream. I was full of ambition. I thought to myself, ‘this is my chance to build my future in Israel’,” she reflects.
But the greater happiness she expected in this longed-for place evaded her when she found herself in a cramped apartment with seven other family members all surviving on piecemeal jobs.
“It was a big disappointment, but there was nothing we could do, so we stayed in this condition for two years. It was a vicious circle. I didn’t have money to learn Hebrew and, without Hebrew, I couldn’t apply for a Master’s degree, not that I would’ve been able to pay for my studies anyway. The only option was to work as a cleaner in people’s homes,” she says.
There are about 50,000 refugees in Israel, with thousands more arriving every year—mostly from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan and Congo. But these numbers are dwarfed by the hundreds of thousands who die, or are killed, en route.
“It’s not easy. And even when we get here, it’s just as difficult. One day I just slumped into a depression and decided to stop everything,” Tshuma remembers. “I didn’t answer my phone for three days. I knew something had to change. I thought, ‘what can I do? What can I do to get out of this condition, out of this poverty?’ The problem was that I had no savings that could help me do something else.”
And yet the answer was staring her in the face.
“Because I didn’t have a job, my sister and brother asked if I could babysit their children while they were at work. I agreed because I like kids. In the morning, we would paint, sing and dance and afterwards they would eat and sleep. I spent three days doing this when I suddenly realized I could open a nursery school, provide this service to other families and turn it into a profitable business.”
But she needed funds, so Tshuma approached Microfy, a microfinance organization.
“Being a refugee is like being an entrepreneur because you take your life into your hands and it’s up to you to make it work,” says Microfy’s founder and director Andrea Kruchik Krell.
“The business risks to these refugees are huge and more often than not, those who open a business have it closed down by the authorities because they don’t have the legal status to own a company in Israel. But just like the rest of the population, about 10% of them are entrepreneurs—refugees with great ideas who are good at doing business but need to be given a chance,” says Krell.
In addition to providing loans, Microfy organizes intensive training in business management and mentors refugees.
“If they don’t show commitment and if they talk about importing diamonds from Congo, they won’t get funding,” points out Krell. “But Faida knew what she wanted and was determined and willing to make an effort to learn.”
In the past four years, the nursery school has grown to 40 children, all of them from refugee or foreign workers’ families. A typical day starts at seven and ends 12 hours later when parents finish their often irregular, often menial labor.
Mimi is a shy, tiny woman, who gave birth to her daughter, Nohami, in Sudan while she and her husband were fleeing Eritrea. They spent a year in an Israeli prison after being arrested for trying to sneak into the country from Egypt. She supports her daughter with the money she earns from cleaning apartments. Her husband is in Switzerland where he is trying to arrange papers to take the family there.
“I don’t know what I’d do if this place didn’t exist. I know no-one in Israel and there’s no other place I can leave my daughter, knowing she’s in a safe environment and being well taken care of,” she says
Fura is another single mom who has two children at the nursery school—her youngest is six months old. She, too, says life is difficult in Israel and knowing her children are being looked after during the day while she searches for work gives her peace of mind.
“The children are still too young for us to see what kind of trauma they’ve experienced,” says Tshuma. “But I see the difficulty in the conditions of their lives; they don’t spend time with their parents as they’re here all day and go home just to sleep. The other day, one of the four-year-olds asked me why his mom couldn’t come to pick him up early and take him to the park to play. It’s so sad.”
The nursery school provides a safe environment in which the children can grow and learn. Tshuma has since trained in early childhood education and with the help of volunteers has a daily schedule she follows that includes educational games, art and music. She talks to the children in English, French and Hebrew and often the meal she gives them is the only food they eat all day. Her work won her a Microfinance International Award for successfully using a Microfy loan to start her own business.
“I run this place with a lot of understanding. Often a parent will come to me and say they’re so sorry but they haven’t been able to find work this month and can’t pay fees. Sometimes I take money from my own pocket to buy books, a nice chair, a CD,” she says.
“Nothing in this life is easy, you need to fight, to stand up and do it. The value of a person is what’s inside. Many of the refugees have so much to contribute but don’t get the opportunity to do so. I wanted to be an exception and challenge myself. I wanted to help people and give back. I didn’t want to just have any nursery school where kids were dropped off and picked up—I want this place to be something different.”

When The Promised Land  Isn’t So  Promising

Shortly after his controversial re-election in late 2011, president of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Joseph Kabila, promulgated a new agricultural law, which stipulates that farmland must be majority-owned by a national or a company whose majority shareholding is owned by the state or a Congolese entity.
Nationalization is also a hot topic in the DRC’s mining sector. In February, during the Mining Indaba in Cape Town, South Africa, the Congolese minister for mining, Martin Kabwelulu Labilo, made his disappointment clear: the investor-friendly mining code had not delivered the intended changes. Designed with the support of the World Bank in 2002, the mining code will be 10 years old this year and is likely to be reviewed. In 2011, Gécamines, the main public mining company in the DRC, announced a review of all its joint ventures.
These talks are the direct consequence of growing investor interest in land and mineral resources in Africa. National control is at the center of debates in countries like Gabon, South Africa, Zambia and Chad. And Africa is not alone—in Brazil, foreign-controlled companies cannot own more than 250,000 hectares and raw materials diplomacy is becoming official policy in Europe. In the DRC, the new agricultural law and the likely mining code review are serious sources of concern for business.
In the 1970s, to end Belgian domination of the economy, former president, Mobutu Sese Seko, made full Congolese ownership a mandatory requirement for every business in the country. The DRC’s nationalization policy lasted only three years, from 1973 to 1976. Without capital and expertise, this policy led to an economic disaster. Foreign owners and businesspeople disengaged from the country, and the new Congolese owners were unable to run the businesses. In 1976, foreign investors were allowed to own 60% of their business. Since then, joint ventures are the norm and land belongs to the state.
State intervention in the mining sector has left bad memories in business circles. The mining contracts review (2007-2009) was intended to correct the imbalances of former president Laurent Desiré Kabila’s mining deals, to increase state shareholding and to revive the mining pillar of the nation, Gécamines. Unfortunately, the opaque review process put an end to these hopes. Under the supervision of the late Katumba Mwanke, special advisor in the presidency, the contracts review turned into a money-making scheme for state rulers. The review made mining investors bitter and the DRC is now considered a risky place to invest.
Given this historical background and the presence of Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe at Kabila’s inauguration, the return of the nationalization policy just after the president’s re-election is making investors nervous. The minister for agriculture failed to reassure foreign donors during a meeting in Kinshasa, despite arguing that only new investments in agriculture will be affected by this law. Some foreign investors are preparing for a legal battle, while others are ringing the alarm bell, even though no-one knows how seriously the law will affect agriculture. But beyond the logical preservation of their interests, this quick reaction is very important for African governments.
In itself, the claim for national ownership is not illegitimate. This is official policy in Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Qatar. In times of aggressive investment policy, the anti-colonial rhetoric of nationalization may be appealing to African governments, but the practices are questionable. Real wealth redistribution is the objective of nationalization, but it is often used as a pretext for the ruling elite to capture resources, turning foreign plundering into domestic plundering.

Resource Capture  In The DRC

The Inga Dam project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been work in progress for more than 50 years.
<div id="attachment_267" style="width: 222px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-267" class="wp-image-267 size-medium" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/043_BGA11475-212x300.jpg" alt="" width="212" height="300" />DRC CONGO BELGIUM OFFICIAL VISIT DAY3</div>
The first feasibility studies for the initiative being investigated in the 1960s. The construction of Inga I, the first of four stages of the venture, was commissioned in 1972. The project is intended for completion sometime between 2020 and 2025 and could cost up to$80 billion. The Inga hydropower scheme is touted as being the solution to Africa’s energy woes—it is thought that when complete it could generate as much as 45,000 megawatts—more than South Africa, the biggest producer on the continent.
On the Inga Dam rests new projects, like BHP Billiton’s $5 billion aluminum smelter project, which could consume as much as 2,000MW.
“The major shortage of power is stopping development in many sectors,” says Thierry Naweji Kankwala, chairman of the South Africa-DRC Chamber of Commerce.
Capital is the biggest issue. A slice of a $100 billion green energy fund  could emerge from the COP17 talks in Durban and that could help.
Another one of the comlications is the structure of the finance for the project. In 2004, the Western Power Corridor, or Westcor, a cluster of African countries including the  DRC, Angola, Namibia, Botswana and South Africa, signed a memorandum of understanding  to finance Inga III, but in 2009 the government of DRC changed its mind and turned to  private investors.
Environmental concerns such as deforestation have also been raised. The World Energy Council estimates that the project could save 100 million tons of carbon being spewed into the atmosphere.
The completion of the Inga Dam project could be a coup for the continent with transmission lines planned as far afield as Egypt and Europe.
“The project will have a big impact in the continent, especially in the Southern African countries (Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa and others),” says Kankwala.
&nbsp;

Damming Investment

The chief executive of Randgold Resources, Mark Bristow, is no corporate cypher in a pinstriped suit, making decisions from afar. “I don’t believe in big offices and bureaucracies,” says the man whose company has no head office—just an operating center in the Malian capital of Bamako. With the spirit of a true entrepreneur, he likes to be on the ground and appears to relish difficult conditions.
<div id="attachment_154" style="width: 484px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-154" class="size-large wp-image-154" src="/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/279-42-683x1024.jpg" alt="" width="474" height="711" />Mark Bristow, CEO of Randgold Resources. Johannesburg, 18 August 2011 &#8211; Photo by Brett Eloff.</div>
And from the start, following the incorporation of Randgold Resources in 1995, the acquisition of BHP Mali in 1996 and the London Stock Exchange listing in 1997, Bristow set a cracking pace. Three operations were built in just 10 years: Morila in Mali; Loulo, a four-mine complex (also in Mali); and Tongon in Côte d’Ivoire. This period also saw the confirmation of a new discovery at Massawa in Senegal and the acquisition of a 45% interest in the Kibali project in the DRC.
Bristow may have raised the eyebrows and increased the pulse rate of investors along the way, but the story of the rapid rise of Randgold Resources cannot be gainsaid, and those who have kept the faith have been rewarded amply. In the 10 years to 2009, the company was the best performing stock in the STOXX600 Europe Index, recording a stellar rise of 4,776%. In the five years to 2010, basic earnings per share increased by 63%, from $0.70 to $1.14, and dividend payments went up by 100%. In the past three years, net profits have increased by 157%, from $47 million in 2008 to $120.6 million in 2010.
Conventional wisdom would have had the odds stacked against Randgold Resources from the start. The intention was that the company would confine itself to gold, so there was no possibility of spreading risk by mining other minerals. It was driven by explorers whose only experience
Was of deep-level mining in South Africa. At the time that it needed to fund the development of its mine, Randgold Resources had no revenue-producing operations and the gold price was at an all-time low. Finally, the assets of Randgold Resources were all in Africa—not everyone’s idea of a safe investment haven. Yet this Pan-African pure gold player is on the blue chip FTSE 100 and its stock trades at a premium to the market. Bristow recalls the early days of the company. “We were attracted to Africa beyond South Africa after the postcolonial era of nationalism, socialism and nepotism. These ‘isms’ had preserved Africa’s natural resources, gold in particular. We had no money but a lot of ambition,” he says.
Randgold Resources added to its already substantial holdings in the prospective region of West Africa in 1996 with the buy-out of BHP in Mali, gaining a collection of exploration tenements and the less-than-desirable (as it turned out) Syama mine. The turning point came the next year when the world-class Morila deposit was discovered. He views the establishment of this mine as his company’s greatest achievement to date.
“We had a stressed balance sheet and we had to persuade the bank to lend us 100% of the money to develop the deposit. This was at a time when the gold price had gone from $400/oz to $260/oz. We could so easily have lost the company,” he explains. People questioned whether Randgold Resources had the expertise to build a mine. These critics were silenced when Morila (including the construction of a 30 power station) was completed on time and on budget. The first gold was poured and a profit was made in the first quarter of operation, and since October 2000, the operation has produced 5.8 million ounces of gold and distributed more than $1.6 billion to stakeholders. “It’s been the most lucrative gold mine in the world in the last two decades,” he notes.
The development of a major mine in Mali, the third-poorest country in Africa, takes some nerve but Bristow, unsurprisingly, does not hold the conventional view that the continent is a difficult place in which to operate. “It’s a fine place to work and it’s not bound by hoity-toity corporate governance janitors. It’s a place for passionate, ambitious people who want to make a difference to other people’s lives,” he says.
His first core belief about doing business in Africa is the importance of establishing relationships. “If you want to invest in Africa, you can’t do it by remote control. You have to build partnerships and to do that, you have to travel. You have to get to know your team. You have to know the political, social and commercial environment of each country.” The holder of a pilot’s license, he usually flies himself to the company’s operations—the trip from Abidjan to Tongon in a Cessna 206 being a particular favorite.
The importance of relationships notwithstanding, Bristow makes no apologies for being uncompromising when necessary. “You can’t be nice all the time. That’s a mistake that many foreign companies make. Africa is not for sissies. We don’t bribe. We stick to our values and we don’t shy away from robust encounters with stakeholders and governments.” The story of Randgold Resources in Côte d’Ivoire illustrates his approach. Before the building of Tongon started, the company had talks with the government. In a nutshell, the message was: “We’ll come and invest, but you need to keep us safe.” That said, many would question the decision to do business in a country that was split between government and rebel forces after the 2002-04 civil war and was later divided between supporters of Alassane Ouattara, the winner of the presidential elections held at the end of 2010, and Laurent Gbagbo, the former president who refused to step down.
Bristow’s response is interesting. He says that Côte d’Ivoire has a “deeper institution” or regulatory framework than most African countries. “At all times, that institution has reinforced our deal and respected our contracts.” He admits that things became very difficult at the end of 2010. “We had to deal with social unrest and people wanted to steal,” he says. However, the mine did not arm its security forces even though there was one ton of gold piled up in the safe. “We made it clear [to both factions] that we would not be used as a political football. The response of both governments was to ensure security for the operation and the community. They kept their word.”
This gave him the confidence to continue. “Other companies withdrew their expatriates. At no stage did we feel that we needed to pull people out. Our view was that ifit became too dangerous, we’d close the mine altogether,” he says. They never had to make that decision.
He concedes that the circumstances were highly complex. “We were in the middle of a conflict area under UN watch. We’ve had to manage in a social and political environment that has been turned on its head: the good guys became the bad guys and vice versa. We’ve built relationships and we talk to everyone.” These partnerships are the key to the company’s ability to operate in this type of situation and they are the nub of what separates his company from many others on the continent. It starts with a commitment to using local businesses. Apart from the difference that this makes to the economy, it makes good sense because these businessmen can open doors to government contacts and it means that the company is viewed as “local” rather than “foreign”. Since the commercial ventures in the surroundings are benefiting from the operation, it is less likely that people will interfere in its running and more likely that locals will defend it from attacks.
Bristow is scathing about the “comfort blankets” that so many foreign mining companies “drag with them” when they come to Africa. “They bring service providers, logistical support, security personnel and contractors from around the world and they build a perimeter wall around their business.” By adopting this approach, they make no real difference to the economy of the country.
That brings us to his second core belief: that if a companymines gold assets in Africa, it is beholden to create value for all stakeholders. “You don’t own the mine; you rent it. The country only begins to benefit when you start construction,” he notes, adding that the real benefits only start when profits are made and taxes are paid.
He says any one of the Randgold Resources’ mines consumes goods to the value of $10 million to $15 million a month. “If you can cycle such costs in the local economy, can you imagine what you do to that economy?” he asks. In preparation for the start of mining at Kibali, 400 kilometers of roads in the north-east DRC have been opened up. “For the first time since 1955, a bus was driven from Uganda to Doko in the DRC in August last year,” he says.
Locals are already feeling the benefits of these developments with the cost of living having fallen by 50%. He is confident that the new operation, with estimated reserves of 10 million ounces, will be a “big engine” for growth in that part of the country. Expected to be one of the largest mines on the continent, it is anticipated that first gold will be poured by the end of 2013.
The biggest sing single risk for Africa, in his view, is thepressure of poverty. His message to the anti-mining lobby and the “greenies” is that this is more destructive to the planet than everything else put together. “Poor people don’t care about rules and regulations; they just want to survive for the day. That’s why they’ll chop down the last tree. Lift them out of poverty then they’ll start looking after the environment.” And he has no doubt whatsoever that the way to liberate Africa is to create jobs. Since 1995, Randgold Resources has directly created 9,000 jobs and, at full operation, he expects Kibali to employ about 3,000 to 4,000 people.
The Randgold Resources philosophy is that local people are employed wherever possible and not only at junior levels. There is only one expatriate on the management team at Morila and local people make up well over half of the team at Loulo. He is impatient with people who hold the view that Africans cannot deliver and perform at the highest executive levels. “There are plenty of highly skilled Africans.
If you are prepared to invest in people, they are here. We’ve just been on an employment drive to the southern DRC and we had people queuing up,” he says. He makes the point that in countries like Mali and the DRC, the intellectual elite is to be found in mining.
Bristow, who holds a PhD in geology—his thesis was on the “esoteric” topic of chrome seams in the Bushveld Complex—from the University of Natal in South Africa, says he did not set out to be successful. The circumstances in which he found himself helped. So did the fact that he likes winning, loves making a difference and enjoys working in a team. Above all, he really believes in Africa and its people. “It’s got to be the place to be in the next 10 years,” he says.

Tag: DRC

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Noëlla Coursaris Musunka The Trailblazer In The Congo

Love At First Flight

When The Promised Land Isn’t So Promising

Resource Capture In The DRC

Damming Investment

Mine Building Maverick