It’s an indisputable fact. President of the DRC Chamber of Mines and Managing Director of Kipushi Corporation, Louis Watum has accumulated a wealth of experience in the mining sector in the DRC and on the continent since the mid-1990s. He entered politics as Minister of Industry in the Suminwa government.
He spent more than 13 years in senior positions in this strategic sector of the Congolese business world. When he was appointed head of the Chamber of Mines in February 2020, he invited mining operators “to become part of the solution and not eternally dissatisfied” when it came to meeting the energy challenge in the sector.
Experienced and charismatic
Before joining Ivanhoe Mines, where he was one of the first Congolese to head a Major, Louis Watum successfully managed the development of Randgold’s Kibali project from 2010 to 2014, after setting up the Moto Gold Mines project between 2006 and 2009. From 2001 to 2005, the chemical engineer by training was director of operations at Yatela Gold Mine in Mali, which he built and managed and where he spent “his most successful years”. A charismatic figure, his “social business” and “good governance” credentials give him a high profile at major events such as DRC Mining Week and Mining Indaba (South Africa).
A Polytechnic engineer trained at the University of Lubumbashi (DRC) in the Industry sector, Louis Watum will have to meet several challenges, including promoting export industries through locally processed products in order to make the national economy less vulnerable to external shocks.
On the subject of governance and the importance of subcontracting, he told M&B that “the government should set up development and entrepreneurship ecosystems with enhanced capacity around mining sites. In an area of 500 hectares around the mine, for example, it should call on concessionaires and contractors to whom it would impose modern international standards in the construction and management of health, education, housing and urbanisation infrastructures, as well as industrial and commercial complexes adapted to the environment”.
Time for politics
“If seeking to be at the forefront of reforming the way we manage the respublica means playing politics, I’ll give you that and say yes,” he told M&B in an interview in 2021. His ministry oversees the Autorité de Régulation de la Sous-traitance dans le secteur privé (ARSP).
For him, “the dream could become reality, and managers would happily invest in the mines. The government, mining operators and civil society should discuss the issue and implement appropriate plans. The mines have not changed, the deposits are still there, but the lack of vision and foresight is severely penalising us”. It’s up to him now. M&B Magazine wishes him every success in his mission to serve the Congo.
You can read our cover story with Louis Watum here:
https://miningandbusiness.com/2021/01/13/louis-watum-le-parcours-dun-conquerant/
M&B