Democratic Republic of Congo named Malangu Kabedi-Mbuyi as its first female central bank governor, according to the office of President Felix Tshisekedi.
Kabedi-Mbuyi replaces Deogratias Mutombo, who was in the position for eight years.
Kabedi-Mbuyi has worked for the International Monetary Fund in some African countries, including Sierra Leone, Cape Verde, and Burkina Faso, according to the website of the Washington-based lender.
The new governor’s first task will likely be to help implement a three-year $1.5-billion extended credit facility with the IMF. The program’s conditions include increased central bank autonomy and reform of its board, as well as an improvement of transparency in it’s mining sector.
Congo is the biggest source of cobalt and Africa’s largest producer of copper, yet corruption in the industry has kept the country among the poorest in the world. A new IMF program could unlock billions of dollars of funding from other financial institutions.
The monetary policy committee cut the benchmark interest rate to 8.5% from 10.5% in June. The economy could grow by 4.9% this year as the nation emerges from the coronavirus pandemic and benefits from a commodity boom.