Arthur Katalayi

Arthur Katalayi
Born (1982-05-10) May 10, 1982
Lyon, France
Residence DR Congo
Education

 United States

 United Kingdom
Alma mater Rider University (M.A.)
Salem International University
Occupation

Arthur Kalala Katalayi (French pronunciation: ​[kata.lɑˈji] born May 10, 1982), nicknamed "The Katalyst", is an entrepreneur from the Democratic Republic of Congo.[1]

He serves as a Senior Advisor and Global Ambassador for Giving Back to Africa.[2][3] In 2014, Katalayi took on the role of Senior Executive Advisor to the Chairman of the Board of Directors at the Congolese state-owned copper and cobalt mining company Gecamines;[4][5][6] he simultaneously serves as a Global Economic Advisor to the President at the Federation des Entreprises du Congo - DRC's Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and its principal business lobby group. His career hence falls into three strands: social development, business advisory and entrepreneurship.

Katalayi has respectively resided in France, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Belgium and now the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Early life and education

A Luba art collector of Luba ancestry, Katalayi was born in Lyon, France, and raised in Paris.[7] His namesakes are American tennis player Arthur Ashe and Kingdom of Luba emperor Kalala Ilunga. Katalayi first visited the Democratic Republic of Congo aged 6; in Kinshasa, and Lubumbashi, in the Katanga Province. At the age of 16, he left France for the United Kingdom where he spent a year in London, before attending the City of Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College until 2001.[8]

2001 - United States

Already showing signs of maturity and an international adaptability which belied his young years, three years after leaving France for the England, Katalayi was again weighing up the inviting vista of life in foreign climes.

New Frontier and American Dream

Having always had an eye for more far-reaching adventures than his peers, the United States of America then appeared to be the next natural destination towards Katalayi's progression and global aspirations. As fortune would have it, Katalayi first set foot on U.S. soil in July 2001,[9] in New York City, on what proved to be a life-changing, defining voyage. Thereafter, he earned a Bachelor's degree in 2005 from Salem International University, where he played college soccer as a student-athlete on an athletic scholarship,[7] and was part of the team that was the 2004 West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular season champion.

Subsequently, Katalayi moved to New Jersey and was the recipient of a Master's degree from Rider University, in 2009.[7]

Giving Back to Africa

Such a multidimensional background and international upbringing resulted in Katalayi being, sometimes, puzzled about his true identity. However, a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2007 seemed to clear the muddied waters and Katalayi then joined Giving Back to Africa. The following year, whilst still at Rider, Katalayi gave a presentation about the Democratic Republic of Congo to two Baccalaureate Honors freshmen classes that had recently read 2000 Oprah's Book Club best-selling novel;[10]The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, which is set in the Congo during the 1960s. In March 2012, Katalayi was invited as a Mover and Shaker, on South Africa's SAfm national radio station, owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation and headquartered in Johannesburg. Katalayi moved to Belgium in 2011, visited South Africa in 2012, and China in 2013.

Gecamines

2014 saw Katalayi expand his horizons further once more as he finally moved to the Democratic Republic of Congo to join parastatal mining firm Gecamines. Katalayi came to the attention of Congolese business magnate and Gecamines Chairman Albert Yuma some years earlier, and Yuma brought Katalayi to Congo as his Senior Executive Advisor, according to The Wall Street Journal.[11] Katalayi's experience includes capital market consulting assignments on Wall Street particularly at Bloomberg L.P., and most notably at the New York Stock Exchange. It is understood that Gecamines is currently assessing different modes of financing[12] with the possibility to monetize some of its copper and cobalt assets via an initial public offering - Gecamines current stakes in its joint-ventures are thought to be valued near $2 billion.

In 2013, to strengthen its Board of Directors, Gecamines recruited American Jewish Congress Chairman, New York City Real estate developer and US businessman Jack Rosen, whom Katalayi befriended. Gecamines is working to reshape its global standing in the mining industry by re-securing its heyday place as the premier, state-owned mining company on the African continent.

Katalayi is currently working on his first Bildungsroman, christened The Katalyst.[13]

Publications

References

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