Comment
Novacel is a private company created by the late Paul Mushiete Mahamwe, Minister of Finance in DRC under former President Mobutu. His three children own the company, with his son Olivier Mushiete acting as the company’s director. Olivier Mushiete, a long-term resident in Belgium, launched the Ibi Batéké project in 1995. He also presents himself as a traditional chief of the land included in the Ibi Bateke carbon project, and several World Bank documents refer to Novacel as a company founded by ‘natives of the Bateke region’. Olivier Mushiete also created a non-profit organization, GI-Agro, which manages funds allocated to ‘community development’ projects’ for Novacel.