André-Philippe Futa (August 26, 1943 – October 1, 2009) was a politician in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

. He was originally from Miabi in Tshilenge District.

Biography

André-Philippe Futa Mudiumbula Tshitumbu Tshipadi was born in Miabi, Tshilenge District, Democratic Republic of Congo as the only son of Kabongo wa Mfuta wa Kalubi and Tshiambuaya Marie-Madeleine. He was a member of the

royal family A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...

of Bena Mbayi and Bakwa Dishi. Futa was admitted to the Official University of Congo (UOC), where he studied

agronomic Agricultural economics is an applied field of economics concerned with the application of economic theory in optimizing the production and distribution of food and fiber products. Agricultural economics began as a branch of economics that specif ...

sciences and graduated with distinctive honors as an agricultural engineer. He then moved to

Kamina Kamina is the capital city of Haut-Lomami Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Transport Kamina is known as an important railway node; three lines of the DRC railways run from Kamina toward the north, west, and south-east. The m ...

, where he became the head of the regional Companie des Grands Elevages de Katongola. In 1972, he became assistant professor at Université National du Zaïre. He then attended the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

, earning a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in Food and Resources Economy in 1976. In 1979, he obtained his Ph.D. from

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

. In 1980, he was employed by the

African Development Bank The African Development Bank Group (AfDB, also known as BAD in French) is a multilateral development finance institution, headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast since September 2014. The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and ...

(ADB) in

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N'ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the largest city and the former capital of Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of the overall population ...

Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest city and ...

, where he spent most of his career. In 1997, he was dispatched to the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) as Director. Two years later, he returned to the ADB as the East Africa Representative Director in the regional office of

Addis Abeba Addis may refer to: Places *Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia **Addis Ababa University **Addis Ketema, a city district *Addis, Louisiana, a town in West Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, US People *Addis (name) *Raptile (born 1976), stage name Ad ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. In April 2001, Futa returned to

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ), formerly named Léopoldville from 1881–1966 (), is the Capital city, capital and Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is one of the world's fastest-grow ...

when he was called by the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo to join his government as Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Livestock. President

Joseph Kabila Joseph Kabila Kabange ( , ; born 4 June 1971) is a Congolese politician and former military officer who served as the fourth President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 2001 to 2019. He took office ten days after the assassination o ...

again showed his trust in Futa by appointing him to the Ministry of Economy in November 2002. At the conclusion of the peace negotiations, a

Government of National Unity A national unity government, government of national unity (GNU), or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties (or all major parties) in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other nati ...

was put in place in June 2003, in which Futa was successively named Minister of Industry and then

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

. He occupied the latter post until November 2005. During his term as

, Futa was elected Chairman of the Board of Governors of the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

and

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

. During the National Convention of the National Alliance Party for Unity (PANU) in March 2006, he was elected President of the Party. Dr. Futa was a member of several professional organizations, including Omicron Delta Epsilon and the

International Association of Agricultural Economists The International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE) is an International professional organization for agricultural economists. IAAE publishes the peer-reviewed journal ''Agricultural Economics''. The flagship conference of the Interna ...

. He has published works on economic development. He died on October 1, 2009, in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Futa, Andre 1943 births 2009 deaths People from Kasaï-Oriental Luba people National Alliance Party for Unity politicians Finance ministers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Government ministers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Presidents of the Democratic Republic of the Congo University of Florida alumni 21st-century Democratic Republic of the Congo people