Daniel Abibi

Daniel Abibi
Born	1942 Republic of the Congo
Occupation(s)	Statesman, mathematician, diplomat
Known for	Minister of Information; Minister of Secondary and Higher Education; Permanent Representative to the United Nations

Daniel Abibi (born 1942) is a Congolese statesman, mathematician, and diplomat. Throughout the 1980s, he held the positions of Minister of Information as well as Minister of Secondary and Higher Education in Congo-Brazzaville. In the following decade, he represented his country as the Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

Life and career

Abibi obtained his PhD in mathematics from the University of Grenoble in France in 1970, becoming among the earliest Central Africans to achieve a doctorate in this field. As a politically active Northerner educated in France, he supported Marien Ngouabi through involvement with the Congolese Students Association (AEC) in 1972. This support brought him into conflict with the Congolese Party of Labour (PCT), resulting in his temporary abduction until Ngouabi intervened for his release.

With ideological commitments to Marxism and radical African nationalism, Abibi served as rector at Marien Ngouabi University. A trusted ally of Denis Sassou Nguesso, he was appointed Minister of Information, Posts and Telecommunications in 1983, succeeding Florent Ntsiba. The following year, he became a member of the PCT Central Committee, responsible for international affairs, and transitioned to the role of Minister of Secondary and Higher Education. He was removed from the cabinet during a government reshuffle in 1986.

Abibi led the Congolese Anti-Apartheid Committee and was appointed head of the African Anti-Apartheid Committee in 1989. That same year, he entered the PCT Politburo, overseeing education, ideological matters, and political training.

During the 1990s, Abibi aligned with Pascal Lissouba's Pan-African Union for Social Democracy and served as Congo's Permanent Representative to the United Nations. Following the 1997 civil war that reinstated Sassou Nguesso and displaced Lissouba, Abibi stepped back from political life but eventually rejoined Sassou Nguesso's PCT. In October 2011, he was elected as a PCT senator representing Sangha Department, winning one of six available seats with 87.14% of the vote.