DRC: Marie-Chantal Kaninda, a mining expert with an inspiring career

Marie-Chantal Kaninda is a Congolese woman expert in the mining sector. She comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a country known for its mineral wealth. From 2017 to 2019, she ran the World Diamond Council (WDC), an organization that campaigns against the illicit diamond trade worldwide.

Marie-Chantal Kaninda graduated in economics from the University of Lièges and began her career in the mines in the late 1990s. She entered the mining sector by joining the Ashanti Goldfields Group. Subsequently, she worked in several other international mining groups such as AngloGold Ashanti and De Beers, which is one of the largest groups in the diamond sector. There she held positions in administration, communication and external affairs. In 2012, she joined Rio Tinto, the world’s second largest mining group, as Senior External Relations Advisor for Africa. She contributed, in particular, to the relocation of a development project in Angola as well as the implementation of several engagement strategy plans for various operations. 

In 2010, she led the DRC Private Sector Anti-Corruption Initiative within the World Diamond Council. In 2011, she chaired a task force which developed the first Code of Conduct for the private sector in the DRC, in partnership with the Federation of Congolese Companies. This initiative subsequently led to the development of the National Pact against Corruption in the DRC signed in December 2013 by the public and private sectors and civil society.

Leading the offensive against the illicit diamond trade

After serving on the Board of Directors of the multilateral Diamond Development Initiative, in 2017 she took over the leadership of the World Diamond Council (WDC), a strategic organisation in diamond regulation, which is responsible for ensuring the traceability of rough diamonds and combating the illicit trade of precious stones. During her tenure, she set herself two missions, namely ensuring good governance in the sector and revising the Kimberley Process, a self-regulation system initiated in 2003 by the industry manufacturers to prevent the international trafficking of conflict diamonds and rough diamonds used to finance armed conflicts.

In 2019, she left CMD to join the international group Glencore, which is present in more than 150 countries, as head of the company’s affairs.

Committed to women’s rights

In 2011, she created the MCKM Foundation, a non-profit organisation that aims to contribute to women’s development. The foundation’s activities include programs aiming at promoting the education of girls and women’s access to technical professions. The foundation has so far awarded more than 300 scholarships to young girls. 

At the same time, she is the 2nd vice-president of the National Women’s Football Commission in the DRC, which is an organ of the Congolese Football Association Federation (FECOFA).

In 2019 and 2020, she appeared in the Forbes Africa ranking of the 100 most influential women in Africa.