André A. Jackson

M'zée Fula-Ngenge
Born	(1964-07-19) July 19, 1964 Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
Residence	Luanda, Angola & the  United Arab Emirates
Nationality	French
Other names	M'zée Fula-Ngenge
Education	M.B.A., Ph.D.
Alma mater	University of Houston Stanford University Graduate School of Business

André Action Diakité Jackson (Arabic: أندريه جاكسون‎), (born July 19, 1964), more commonly known by his African clan name "M’Zée Fula-Ngenge" (pronounced [mze:] [fu:la] [ng'eing'ei]), is a diamond industrialist and head of JFPI Corporation, Africa's largest holding company.

Jackson is the world's first diamond manufacturer of African descent^[1] and is also the architect and Chairman of both the African Diamond Council (ADC)^[2] and the African Diamond Producers Association (ADPA), the two umbrella bodies representing diamond-producing countries in Africa.

Background

André Action Diakité Jackson was born into a family of African American descent. His late father Tom Jackson was a decorated Administrator of the U.S. Armed Forces and his mother is Mary L. Barber Jackson, a retired Linguistics Professor.

Jackson became the world's first diamantaire of African descent in 1986, immediately after opening his own diamond manufacturing plant in Mbuji-Mayi, in the DRC. In 1987, he became a close advisor to the late Zairean president, Mobutu Sese Seko.^[3]

In 1996, he briefly left Zaire and began expanding his diamond business by becoming a supplier of cut diamonds.

Jackson returned to the DR Congo (formerly Zaire) at the end of 1997 and proved to be instrumental in assisting Nelson Mandela to organize the first face-to-face meeting between Mobutu Sese Seko and Laurent-Désiré Kabila aboard the SAS Outeniqua, a South African naval supply ship docked off the coast of Pointe Noire (Republic of Congo).

In December 1999, the diamond magnate established the African Diamond Council (ADC), Africa's official diamond governing body.

Jackson, notorious for wearing two watches at the same time -- one on each wrist -- is also a celebrated automobile collector. The supercars in his collection include the Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4, various custom-built Lamborghinis and Ferraris and the $8 million Maybach Exelero concept car.^{[4] [5]}

More prominently, he is also the alleged "Mystery Man" inside the doping-control room when Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson tested positive immediately following the 100m final at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul.^[6]

References

External links

• African Diamond Council (ADC)