Catherine Samba-Panza

Catherine Samba-Panza (; born 26 June 1954) is a Central African politician who served as Transitional President of the Central African Republic from 2014 to 2016. She is the first woman to serve as head of state in the Central African Republic. Prior to her tenure as acting president, she was the Mayor of Bangui from 2013 to 2014. Samba-Panza began her career operating an insurance brokerage and working as a women's rights advocate. She was chosen in 2003 to serve as the vice president of a national reconciliation conference, and she was then chosen as president of the subsequent committee to implement the conference's recommendations. She was appointed mayor of Bangui in 2013 after the city was devastated by the Central African Republic Civil War. She was then appointed to serve as transitional president of the Central African Republic in 2014. She was tasked with restoring stability to the nation by disarming militant groups, and she emphasized the nation's economic recovery through employment and foreign aid. Her term ended in 2016. She was a presidential candidate in the 2020–21 election, but she was unsuccessful. Early life and education Catherine Souga was born on 26 June 1954 in Fort Lamy, Chad. to a mother from the Central African Republic (CAR) and a father from Cameroon. She moved to the CAR at the age of 18. She studied corporate law in Bangui, and she then studied insurance law at Panthéon-Assas University. After university, she returned to the CAR and began working for Allianz. She then founded an insurance brokerage. After entering the business, she found that corruption made it difficult to operate such a company. She is married to Cyriaque Samba-Panza, a former CAR government official, and she has three children. Samba-Panza also entered civil society at this time, working with non-governmental organizations. She placed particular emphasis on work as a women's rights advocate. She affiliated with the women's rights group, the Association of Women Lawyers of Central Africa, and with this group she supported women in government, assistance for sexual violence victims, and the end of female genital mutilation. Samba-Panza has also called for economic support for women in Africa, demanding that African governments do more to further women-owned businesses.