Louis Mapou

Louis Mapou (French pronunciation: [lwi mapu]; born 14 November 1958 in Yaté) is a Kanak politician who served as the President of the Government of New Caledonia from 22 July 2021 to 16 January 2025. Mapou is New Caledonia's first native Kanak president since the position was established in 1999.

He is a member of the Palika, and was the president of National Union for Independence group in the Congress of New Caledonia from 2014 to 2021. Also he has also been a municipal councillor of Païta from 1995 to 1998 and since 2020.

Mapou studied at university in Nantes and then in Paris in the 1980s. He was director-general of the Rural Development and Land Management Agency from 1998 to 2005. From 2005 to 2014, he was director of Eramet and chairman of the board of Koniambo Nickel.

Mapou’s election into the office of President of the Government in the 2021 snap election was enforced by a panel of French judges, after the 2020 New Caledonian independence referendum and the following unrest resulting in five attempts to annul the formation of a pro-independence government.