Jean Baptiste Ondaye has been Minister of Economy and Finance since September 24, 2022. This economist by training has served as Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic since 2009. He is now responsible for guiding public policies toward a strong, diversified, and resilient economy for inclusive growth.
Born on January 15, 1958 in Makoua, holder of a diploma in higher economic studies, option national economic planning, obtained in 1983 at the Berlin School of Economics in Germany, Jean-Baptiste Ondaye joined the Ministry of Planning a year later where he had a rich career until 2008, holding several positions.
Head of the Investments and Approvals Department, responsible for the National Investment Commission, he was appointed seven years later, in 1991, Director of Economic Regulation, in addition to his duties as Permanent Secretary of the National Investment Commission until 1997. The same year, he was promoted to the position of Director General of the Economy, member of the Steering Committee of the Customs and Economic Union of Central Africa.
In 1999, Jean-Baptiste Ondaye became head of the Directorate General for Planning and Development. For ten years, he held this position while also serving as technical secretary of the National Committee for the Fight against Poverty, member of the Monitoring Committee for negotiations with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, alternate member of the Inter-State Committee of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa, and technical coordinator of programs with agencies of the United Nations system.
He joined the President's post in 2009 as Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic, with the rank and prerogatives of a minister. This confidence was renewed in 2016 by President Denis Sassou Nguesso, who retained him in this position with the added responsibility of chairing the Committee for Monitoring and Evaluation of Public Policies and Programs and the National Ad Hoc Committee for Combating Malnutrition.
This economist by training, specializing in planning issues, has several challenges to overcome at the head of the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Among the main challenges, we can cite the mobilization of resources for the implementation of the National Development Plan (NDP) 2022-2026 as well as the optimal functioning of the State; the acceleration of the diversification of the national economy; the reduction and viability of the State debt; the implementation of the Program concluded with international financial institutions under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) 2022-2024; the implementation of the Resilience Plan on the food crisis 2022-2023 and the challenge of streamlining economic and financial governance.
Its action involves a number of priority actions, including strengthening economic diversification, growth and resilience to shocks, accelerating the digitalization of tax and customs revenue collection, dematerialization of public procurement, as well as the implementation of tools for forecasting and managing state cash flow and budgetary risks.
For the Minister of Economy and Finance, the aim is to achieve economic and financial performance by 2026 for modern governance of Congo's public finances, thereby promoting stronger, more sustainable and more inclusive economic growth.