Freddy Matungulu

Mbuyamu Ilankir "Freddy" Matungulu was born in Belgian Congo (DRC) on 4 January 1955. An economist, he was Minister of Finance of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 2001 to 2003.[1]

Biography

Education

Son of an official of the Congolese civil service, Freddy Matungulu Mbuyamu Ilankir was born on January 4, 1955 at Lubembo, Bandundu Province, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Brilliant student of the Catholic Schools of Congo, he obtained his Certificate of Elementary School in 1967 at the Saint Joseph Primary School in the city of Banningville (Now Bandundu). After Middle School at Saint Jean-Baptiste de la Salle Institute, still in Bandundu, that led to a High School State Diploma in 1973, he enrolled at the Faculty of Economic Sciences at the University of Kinshasa (UNIKIN). In 1977, he graduated with first class honor “Distinction”, with a bachelor's degree in Economics, with a concentration on International and Monetary Economics. After that, he was appointed as an Assistant Professor at the Economics Department. During the same year, Freddy Matungulu was also hired, at the headquarters of the Congolese Bank for Foreign Trade (Banque du Peuple), in Kinshasa, as a Credit Analyst.

In 1980, as an Assistant Professor at UNIKIN, he obtained a scholarship from the American Government and went to the United States of America to carry on his graduate studies. He first obtained a special degree in English and Economics at The Economics Institute of the University of Colorado in Boulder. Then, in 1981, an English degree from State University of New York at Buffalo, New York.

In 1983, he obtained a master's degree in International Economics at The Fletcher School, Tufts University, in the Boston area, State of Massachusetts. He pushed his graduate studies further and obtained a PhD in Economics in 1986.

His doctoral thesis is entitled : “Exchange Rate Policy, Resource Allocation and Growth Patterns in the Zairian Economy, 1967-1983” (“La politique des taux de change et son impact sur les mécanismes d’allocation des ressources et la croissance dans l’économie zaïroise: 1967-1983”).

Professor career

Back home in 1986, he returned to the Department of Economics of UNIKIN and dedicated himself to the noble profession of teaching. As Associate Professor, he taught courses in political economy (Departments of Economics and Law) and monetary policy ( Department of Economics ). He also taught, for a year, Currency and Credit at the Higher Institute of Commerce in Kinshasa. Seeking experience in the management of the State, from 1986 to 1992 Professor Matungulu was appointed to several advisory positions in government ministries of the country :

  • Special Advisor to the Vice Governor of the Central Bank of Congo
  • Economic Advisor to the Ministry of Budget and Planning
  • Senior Advisor to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications
  • Senior Advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Trade
  • Coordinator of the Advisory Branch to the Ministry of Budget
  • Senior Advisor and coordinator of the council of economic and technical advisors to the Prime Minister
  • Senior Advisor to the Ministry of Budget

Economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF)

In July 1992, he joined the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington, United States as an economist. In 1994, he created the Prize Professor Matungulu, to reward each year the best student of first degree in economics from the UNIKIN (all options).

In 1998, Freddy Matungulu was appointed as the Resident Representative of the IMF in Cameroon, where he supervised the implementation of a program of economic reform that began in 1996. That program enabled Cameroon to benefit a significant reduction in its external debt under the Initiative for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC).

Accomplishments in Government

In April 2001, he was appointed Minister of Economy, Finance and Budget of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Under his term, inflation was brought down from over 500% to below 10%, growth resumed after two decades of economic depression, and the DRC reestablished severed economic ties with its main bilateral and multilateral partners. In February 2003, Freddy Matungulu resigned as Minister of Finance, lacking broad-based government support for his efforts to root out corruption.

Back to IMF

In July 2003, he returned to the International Monetary Fund, where he performed the functions of Country Team Leader / Head of Mission for the design and monitoring of economic programs of various countries with financial and technical assistance agreements with the FMI.

As Head of Mission, Freddy Matungulu conducted, from 2003 to 2014, about thirty IMF visits to various IMF member countries. These visits consisted of discussions on economic policies for those member countries of this great institution of Bretton Woods, including the Republic of Niger, the Republic of Benin, Comoros , Republic of Congo, and the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. During the same period, Freddy Matungulu was also involved in sovereign debt renegotiation sessions at the Paris Club, France.

These IMF missions focused not only on the macroeconomic sectors, public finances, monetary policy and exchange rates, the situation of the banking and financial sector, but also on structural reforms undertaken by the countries concerned. The purpose of these policy discussions was to help member countries develop and implement economic policies to enhance the growth potential of their economies. Such missions also engaged discussions with other forces of the concerned nations, including parliamentarians, business leaders, trade unionists and other members of civil society to better take into account the latter's positions in the design of the proposed country economic policy packages.

Politics

In December 2014, Freddy Matungulu took an early retirement from the IMF, regaining his freedom of speech. He aims to contribute to the efforts to improve the economic and social situation of his home country, the Democratic Republic of Congo. During the same month, he published an article in the magazine Jeune Afrique entitled “ DRC : a society sick of its politicians and its elite ” to denounce the evils that plague the RDC.[2]

In May 2015, Freddy Matungulu created a political party: "Congo Na Biso" ("Our Congo", CNB in acronym). The party headquarters is located in Kinshasa, capital of the DRC, from where Mr. Matungulu conducts his political activities.

On August 8, 2018, Freddy Matungulu registered with the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) as a candidate for the December 2018 presidential election in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. As part of the efforts to establish a single opposition candidacy, Freddy Matungulu took part in the Conclave of the Opposition which led to the creation in Geneva (Switzerland), on November 11, 2018, of the opposition LAMUKA COALITION of which he is co-founder. The work of the Conclave benefited from the facilitation/technical support of the Koffi Annan Foundation. The other participants, co-founders of the LAMUKA Coalition, are Jean-Pierre Bemba, Martin Fayulu, Vital Kamerhe, Katumbi Chapwe, Adophe Muzito and Félix Tshisekedi.

On August 1, 2019, Freddy Matungulu was elected to the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire. He is the Board member representing the six countries of the Central Africa Group, namely: Burundi, Cameroon, Congo-Brazzaville , the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Chad.

References
  1. "MINISTERE DES FINANCES :Patrice Kitebi passe le flambeau à Henri Yav Mulang". 7sur7.cd. December 12, 2014.
  2. RDC : « une société malade de ses politiciens et de son élite », Jeune Afrique, décembre 2014
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