Aïchatou Boulama Kané is a Nigerien politician. She served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Niger from 2015 to 2016 and has been Minister of Planning since 2016.
Biography
Kané was born on 24 April 1955 in Keita, Niger. She was the eldest daughter of 16. After her primary education at Mainé-Soroa from 1961 to 1967, she attended the Lycée Mariama in Niamey where she earned a Baccalauréat série D in 1974. She pursued higher education in France at the University of Rennes 1, earning an economics degree in 1979, and later studied at the Pantheon-Sorbonne University, earning a diploma of Specialized Studies. Kané returned to Niger in 1983 and worked for the Ministry of Mines, Industry and Artisans. Kané led an important march protesting against the low representation of women in the National Conference, for which 13 May is celebrated as Nigerien Women Day. In 1991, she was elected to the National Sovereign Conference as a member of the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism. She was named Secretary of State for Planning in 1993, and fought for the upwards mobility of African women. In particular, she promoted female empowerment through the development of its activities, including crafts. Her appointment as Coordinator of the International Exhibition of Crafts for Women in 2000 illustrated her efforts in women's crafts. It became a government agency in 2005 but has been independent since 2007. Kané was appointed Governor of Niamey by the Council of Ministers in 2011. She served in this position for two years before joining the Interior Ministry. She was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2015 to 2016. She was appointed by the President, Mahamadou Issoufou, to replace Mohamed Bazoum on 25 February 2015. Kané had previously been Issoufou's chief of staff. As foreign minister, Kané gave a speech to the United Nations supporting the two-state solution in Israel and Palestine and thanked the coalition involved in fighting the terrorist group Boko Haram. Kané supported Niger being involved in the UN sanctioned peace process in Libya, making a speech on the topic in an international conference in December 2015. In February 2016, she helped secure the release of Jocelyn Elliott, an Australian woman who, along with her husband Ken, was kidnapped by Islamic militants in Burkina Faso. On 11 April 2016 she was replaced as foreign minister by Ibrahim Yacouba. Kané was instead appointed as Minister of Planning and President of the Council of Ministers of AFRISTAT. She is married to Kane Souleymane, a presidential adviser, and has three children.
