Tysia Mukuna became famous in DRC with her local coffee brand. The Congolese entrepreneur recently won the prestigious Impact Award at the 2024 GoGettaz Africa Prize, which recognizes agripreneurs. Mukuna, founder of Café la Kinoise, will receive a $60,000 reward to grow her business.

A business school graduate, Mukuna chose to produce coffee in the DRC out of a passion for agriculture and as a personal challenge. "Farming for me is more a story of passion. I used to grow all sorts of things, orange and lemon trees. Then, one day, I tried making coffee. Everyone told me it couldn't be grown in Kinshasa, and being stubborn, I thought I'd give it a try," she told RFI.

After starting production, Mukuna accumulated her harvests until 2021, when she decided to launch her own coffee brand, "La Kinoise". Leveraging her business knowledge, she devised a successful marketing strategy that quickly gained recognition.

In 2023, during the Pope's visit to the DRC, Mukuna gave the pontiff a taste of her coffee, which brought her worldwide exposure. That same year, she participated in the Salon de l'Agriculture in Paris, winning one of the "Trophées des agriculteurs du monde". One of Mukuna's proudest achievements is succeeding on her own, without the help of her father, Georges Mukuna, one of the Congolese oil industry's greatest fortunes, in launching her business.

Servan Ahougnon