Arlette Soudan-Nonault

Arlette Soudan-Nonault has been Minister for the Environment, Sustainable Development and the Congo Basin since May 15, 2021. Born in Brazzaville to Senator Jean-Pierre Nonault, who served as Congolese ambassador to France and Russia, she received her education in these countries. She then trained as a journalist. She was a presenter of news programs on Radio Congo as well as produced a number of shows such as Les stratèges du Look and Clin d'oeil d'Arlette Soudan- Nonault. She then served as the press attache to the President of Republic of Congo between 1992 and 1997.  She then launched a communication consulting firm. In 2005, she founded a private school Institution Saint François d'Assise in the outskirts of Brazzaville.  On April 30, 2016, Soudan-Nonault was named the Minister of Tourism and Recreation in the Congolese government led by Prime Minister Clément Mouamba. In this role, she is charged with increasing the share of tourism from 3% to 10% by 2021, to help diversify the country's economy away from declining oil revenues. Investments will be made to improve the country's attractiveness to high-end eco-tourists.  In August 2017, she took on additional charge of the Ministry of Environment replacing Rosalie Matondo.  Soudan-Nonault is a member of the Political Bureau of the Congolese Labor Party and was made Knight of the Order of Congolese Merit in 2010. She is married to journalist François Soudan, the director of magazine Jeune Afrique, and a distant relative ("niece") of President Denis Sassou-Nguesso. Read more