University of Reims Chapagne-Ardenne, Economics and Business Management (BA), Economics and Business Management (MBA)
Occupations
International Civil Servant, Deputy to the Director General and Managing Director of the Directorate of Global Partnerships and External Relations at UNIDO
Employer
UNIDO
Knownfor
Youngest minister appointed in Mali's history, Advocate for Women Empowerment and Industrial Development in Africa
Term
1 June 2022—
Awards
Commandeur de l'Ordre National du Mali
Fatou Haidara (born c.1962) is an international civil servant and former Malian politician known for being the youngest female minister ever appointed in the history of the Republic of Mali. She is currently working as the Deputy Director-General for the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.
Early life and education
Haidara holds a master's degree in economics and business management from the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne in France. Before entering government she worked at Mali's Centre for Studies and Industrial Promotion (CEPI), where she led a project supporting women entrepreneurs.
Political Career
Haidara entered the first democratically elected government of Mali under President Alpha Oumar Konaré. Appointed in 1992 at the age of thirty, she became the youngest minister in the country's history, taking the Employment and Vocational Training portfolio promoting Mali's private sector. She moved to Crafts and Tourism in 1993, and from 1997 until a government reshuffle in 2000 she held the industry and trade portfolio.
In 1993 she moved to the Crafts and Tourism ministry until she was given the more important Ministry of Industry, Trade and Crafts in 1997. Until a government reshuffle in 2000, she held that industry and trade portfolio, at which point she had been a minister for eight years.
Across eight years in government, she took part in policy formulation and in negotiations with the Bretton Woods institutions and other development partners, and led Malian ministerial delegations to international forums, including the first World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference in Seattle in 1999.
UNIDO
Haidara joined United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in 2004 as Director of the Africa Programme. In 2006, she was appointed Director of the Special Programmes Group, and in January 2011 Director of Policymaking Organs Secretariat, Advocacy and Communications. In 2013, she coordinated UNIDO's 15th General Conference with the Government of Peru, at which member states adopted the Lima Declaration. She was promoted to be UNIDO's Managing Director of the Directorate of Global Partnerships and External Relations in 2018 and a Deputy Director-General in 2022. Her work at the organization has covered strategic partnerships, UNIDO's programmes in Africa and in least developed countries, South-South cooperation, human security, youth employment and women's economic empowerment.
Advocacy
Haidara has spoken publicly on women's participation in the economy. At a 2015 International Women's Day event in Vienna following a screening of the documentary, The Supreme Price, she said that "education is key when it comes to empowering women" and that "as women we have to prove ourselves every day to show we deserve trust and confidence", describing her own experience as a woman in Malian politics. She noted that her first involvement with UNIDO had been a project addressing poverty among women in rural areas. has been an advocate for women's rights.
In 2026 inteview with Africa Renewal marking Africa's fourth industrial decade, she discussed the steps needed to turn the African Union's industrialization mandate into practice, in the context of Agenda 2063.
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