Rama Yade

Rama Yade (born Mame Ramatoulaye Yade; 13 December 1976) is a Senegalese-born French politician and author who has been director of the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center since 2021.

Rama was the French Secretary of Human Rights from 2007 to 2009, and the Secretary of Sports from 2009 to 2010. She was the Permanent Delegate of France to UNESCO from December 2010 to June 2011. She held the vice-presidency of the centre-right Radical Party up until 25 September 2015. She announced her candidacy in the 2017 French presidential election, but was unable to obtain enough signatures to be a participant in the presidential race. Her campaign was aimed at "the forgotten people" of France.

Early life and education

Yade was born in Ouakam, Dakar, Senegal. She comes from an educated, upper-middle-class, Lebou family. Her mother, Aminata Kandji, was a professor and her father, Djibril Yade, also a professor, was the personal secretary of Senegalese President Léopold Sédar Senghor and a diplomat. She moved to France with the rest of her family at the age of eight. After her father left the country when she was fourteen, she moved into a council flat in Colombes with her mother and three sisters.

Yade was educated in Catholic schools and then at the Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris, where she graduated in 2000.

Early career

Yade worked at the Paris city hall and the National Assembly. She also worked for The Greens. She later became an administrator in the Senate in 2002.

Political career

Yade joined the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) political party in 2005 and became National Secretary in charge of Francophonie in 2006. She credits Nicolas Sarkozy's charisma with making her want to join the UMP.