Louise Mushikiwabo (born 22 May 1961) is the fourth and current Secretary General of
Organisation internationale de la Francophonie
The (OIF; sometimes shortened to the Francophonie, french: La Francophonie , but also called International Organisation of in English-language context) is an international organization representing countries and regions where French is a ...
. She previously served as the
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of
Rwanda
Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...
from 2009 to 2018.
She also served as Government Spokesperson. She had previously been Minister of Information.
On 12 October 2018, she was elected for a four-year term for the position of Secretary General of
Organisation internationale de la Francophonie
The (OIF; sometimes shortened to the Francophonie, french: La Francophonie , but also called International Organisation of in English-language context) is an international organization representing countries and regions where French is a ...
(OIF) at the Summit of Francophonie in
Yerevan
Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and i ...
,
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''O ...
. She was re-elected in November, 2022.
Early life
Louise Mushikiwabo was born on 22 May 1961 in
Kigali
Kigali () is the capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali has been Rwanda's economic, cult ...
, the Rwandan capital.
Her father was Bitsindinkumi, from the Batsobe clan; Bitsindinkumi worked as a farmer, managing the family's
smallholding
A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technology ...
as well as working as
bookkeeper for a colonial
coffee plantation
A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
. Her mother was Nyiratulira, a first cousin of the
Abiru philosopher and historian
Alexis Kagame. She spent her childhood in Kigali.
The youngest of nine children,
her siblings included
Lando Ndasingwa
Landoald 'Lando' Ndasingwa (died 7 April 1994) was a Rwandan politician and businessman. He was killed on the first day of the Rwandan genocide.
Ndasingwa founded the hotel Chez Lando in the 1980s with his Canadian wife Hélène. Following Nd ...
, who became a notable businessman and politician in Rwanda before being killed in 1994 during the
Rwandan genocide
The Rwandan genocide occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed Hutu ...
,
and
Anne-Marie Kantengwa, who took over Lando's hotel
Chez Lando after his death and served in the
Parliament of Rwanda
The Parliament of Rwanda ( French: ''Parlement du Rwanda''; Kinyarwanda: ''Inteko Ishinga Amategeko y’u Rwanda'') has consisted of two chambers since 2003:
*The Senate (French: ''Sénat''; Kinyarwanda: ''Sena'') (Upper Chamber)
*The Chamber ...
from 2003 to 2008.
After completing primary and secondary school in Kigali, Mushikiwabo went to study at the
National University of Rwanda
The National University of Rwanda (NUR; rw, Kaminuza nkuru y’u Rwanda, french: Université nationale du Rwanda, UNR) was the largest university in Rwanda. It was located at in the city of Butare and was established in 1963 by the government i ...
(currently
University of Rwanda
University of Rwanda is a public collegiate, multi campus university based in Kigali, Rwanda. Formed in 2013 through the merger of previously independent education institutions, the University of Rwanda is the largest education institution in R ...
), in the southern city of
Butare
Butare (), also known as Huye, is a city (population: 50,220 as of 2012) in the Southern Province of Rwanda and the capital of Huye district. It is the fourth largest town in Rwanda by population.
History
The Belgian colonial rulers establish ...
, in 1981.
She graduated from university in 1984, with a bachelor's degree in English, and then worked briefly as a secondary school teacher.
In 1986, she emigrated from
Rwanda
Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...
to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
, where she began studying for a
master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. in Languages and Interpretation at the
University of Delaware
The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 ma ...
, with
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
as her specialist language.
Upon finishing her studies in 1988,
she remained in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
, settling in the
Washington, D.C. area.
She started her career working for lobbying organisations, before taking a position with the
African Development Bank
The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) or (BAD) is a multilateral development finance institution headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, since September 2014. The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and private companies ...
(ADB); as part of her role with the ADB she lived in Tunisia for a short time,
and eventually became the bank's Communications Director.
In 2006, Mushikiwabo wrote a book, ''Rwanda Means the Universe'',
which was co-authored by Jack Kramer, an American journalist and ex-
marine
Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean.
Marine or marines may refer to:
Ocean
* Maritime (disambiguation)
* Marine art
* Marine biology
* Marine debris
* Marine habitats
* Marine life
* Marine pollution
Military ...
. The book is semi-autobiographical, describing Mushikiwabo's family history, her early life in
Rwanda
Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...
, and her experiences upon emigrating to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
.
It also describes the
Rwandan genocide
The Rwandan genocide occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed Hutu ...
in detail, from a historical perspective as well as from Mushikwabo's own point of view living in
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
, as she received the news that many of her family members had been killed.
Political career
Minister of Information, 2008–2009
In March 2008, Mushikiwabo was invited by Rwandan President
Paul Kagame
Paul Kagame (; born 23 October 1957) is a Rwandan politician and former military officer who is the 4th and current president of Rwanda since 2000. He previously served as a commander of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a Uganda-based rebel ...
to return to her homeland Rwanda and take up a position in his government. She was appointed to the post of Minister of Information,
replacing Laurent Nkusi. Early in her tenure, Mushikiwabo was responsible for deciding whether to take action against several local media organisations that had run defamatory stories about Kagame.
One newspaper, the
Kinyarwanda
Kinyarwanda, Rwandan or Rwanda, officially known as Ikinyarwanda, is a Bantu language and a dialect of the Rwanda-Rundi language that is spoken in Rwanda and adjacent parts of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda (where ther ...
-language daily ''Umuco'', had published an article comparing the president to
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...
, and the High Council of the Press (HCP) had requested the government to suspend the newspaper's licence. Nkusi had refused this request, and while Mushikiwabo did not officially suspend the paper, it nonetheless stopped printing in October 2008.
Mushikiwabo generally encouraged her colleagues to support
freedom of the press
Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic media, especially published materials, should be considered a right to be exerc ...
, but was also firm in ensuring that the media complied with Rwanda's tough laws surrounding
genocide denial. In 2009, she issued a temporary ban on the Kinyarwanda radio station broadcast by the
British Broadcasting Corporation #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
(BBC), because she claimed it had aired programmes "giving free scope to genocidaires and negationists of the genocide";
denied this claim, arguing that it and the government had different interpretations of the genocide.
As well as being responsible for the ministry's decision making, Mushikiwabo also fulfilled the role of government spokesperson during her stint as Minister of Information.
n government's position.
She made use of her linguistic skills, being able to give statements in all of Rwanda's official languages, Kinyarwanda,
and English.
* Africa Europe Foundation (AEF), Member of the High-Level Group of Personalities on Africa-Europe Relations (since 2020)
*
government, but was killed at the beginning of the 1994 genocide.