Commissioner

M. Nzita Nganga Di Mavambu Maxime

Democratic Republic of the Congo
Department of Environment, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Rural Development

In brief

A senior executive with more than twenty years of experience leading international and regional programmes in the Congo Basin and the Great Lakes region, Mr. Maxime Nzita Nganga is a specialist in natural resources, biodiversity conservation, climate change and the green economy. He coordinated the European Union Green Economy Programme for Central Africa, in partnership with ECCAS (EUR 80 million), and co-facilitated the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (2016-2020). He also contributed to the Greater Virunga Transboundary Collaboration Treaty. Since May 2023, he has led the Congo Basin portfolio of the Bezos Earth Fund. An agricultural economics engineer (University of Kinshasa) and holder of an Executive MBA (Sorbonne Business School), he has worked with the EU, ECCAS, COMIFAC, the AfDB, GIZ and Central African governments.

Career

2006 – 2016 Conservation and transboundary cooperation programme lead: Deputy Country Director DRC (AWF), Deputy Executive Secretary of the Greater Virunga Transboundary Secretariat (Greater Virunga Treaty, Rubavu Declaration), then Regional Coordinator, Green Economy and Extractive Industries (WWF Africa).
2016 – 2020 Co-Facilitator of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership, representing the EU, Belgium and Germany. Reform of the Partnership's governance, Brussels and N'Djamena Declarations, regional five-year plan.
2020 – 2023 Regional Manager of the EU Green Economy Programme for Central Africa (Libreville), on behalf of the EU and ECCAS: EUR 80 million portfolio across seven countries, 17 protected areas and support to States in environmental diplomacy (UNFCCC, CBD).
2023 – 2025 Congo Basin Portfolio Lead, Bezos Earth Fund, and Strategic Partnerships Lead, WCS Congo Basin. Advises Fund leadership on portfolio development and coordinates regional implementation in the DRC, the Republic of the Congo and Gabon.