Abdoul Aziz Mbaye

Abdoul Aziz Mbaye (18 October 1954 – 3 February 2021) was a Senegalese politician and diplomat.^[1] He had formerly served as Chief of Staff for President Macky Sall. He was appointed Minister of Culture during a cabinet reshuffle on 29 October 2012, succeeding Youssou N'Dour.^[2]

Abdoul Aziz Mbaye
Minister of Culture of Senegal
In office 29 October 2012 – 6 July 2014
Preceded by	Youssou N'Dour
Personal details
Born	18 October 1954 Dakar, French West Africa
Died	3 February 2021(2021-02-03) (aged 66) Dakar, Senegal
Nationality	Senegalese
Political party	APR

Biography

Mbaye was the first Sub-Saharan African to join the mathematics and physics department of the French National Centre for Scientific Research in 1983. He attended Paris-Sud University, the Université libre de Bruxelles, and the Université catholique de Louvain.^[3] A career diplomat, he was a scientific civil servant for the European Commission's European Strategic Program on Research in Information Technology. In 1996, he was appointed advisor of the European Commission to South Africa and Head of the European Union delegation to the Pacific, based in Fiji.

In 1991, Mbaye launched Dakar Science Biennale and was president of Youth Network For Development, a foundation created by Youssou N'Dour. He participated in the foundation of N'Dour's holding, Youssou Ndour Head Office.^[4]

Mbaye was a close friend of Macky Sall, and became Chief of Staff upon Sall's election in 2012. On 29 October 2012, Mbaye succeeded N'Dour as Minister of Culture. He was a founding member of the Alliance for the Republic, Senegal's ruling party since Sall's election.^[5]

Abdoul Aziz Mbaye died from COVID-19 on 3 February 2021, at the age of 66 during the COVID-19 pandemic in Senegal.^[6][7]

References

1. "Dr. Abdoul Aziz M'Bayem, Ambassador, EU Head of Delegation to the Pacific" (PDF). International Monetary Fund. August 2011.
2. . Gouvernement de la République du Sénégal (in French). 29 October 2012. Archived from the original on 2 December 2021. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
3. "Profil - Abdoul Aziz Mbaye, ex-directeur de Cabinet du Président Macky Sall : Un messie au département de la Culture ?". Le Quotidien (in French). 30 October 2012.
4. "Abdoul Aziz Mbaye, un diplomate pour faire redécoller la Culture". SeneWeb (in French). 30 October 2012.
5. "Qui est Abdoul Aziz Mbaye, nommé conseiller spécial du président chargé des Ntics ?". Dakaractu (in French). 29 April 2012.
6. Décès de Abdoul Aziz Mbaye de la Covid-19 : Fin de mission d'un diplomate et 1er Directeur de Cabinet du Président Sall
7. "Urgent / Nécrologie : Décès de l'ancien ministre de la Culture Abdou Aziz Mbaye". Dakaractu (in French). 3 February 2021.