Nteranya Sanginga

Nteranya Sanginga is a Congolese agricultural scientist who served as Director General of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, IITA, from 2011 until his appointment as the institute's Emeritus Director General in 2026, becoming the first African-born director general in IITA's history. Born in Bukavu in the Democratic Republic of Congo, he built a research career in applied microbial ecology, plant nutrition and integrated natural resource management spanning more than three decades at the University of Zimbabwe, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute of CIAT, and IITA itself. As director general he is credited as the driving force behind the IITA Youth Agripreneurs program, which trains young Africans in commercial agribusiness, and under his leadership the institute received the 2016 Al-Sumait Prize for Food Security and the 2018 Africa Food Prize; he was elected a Fellow of The World Academy of Sciences in 2021.