Biography
Louise Mushikiwabo is the current Secretary General of La Francophonie, an international organisation gathering 88 member states and governments sharing French as a common language. She took up her position on January 3rd, 2019 after being unanimously elected during the heads of States Summit that took place in Yerevan in October 2018. She was re-elected for a second term in November 2022 at the Summit of Djerba. After living in the United States for about 20 years, she moved to Tunisia in 2006 where she worked at the African Development Bank as Director of Communication. In March 2008, she was called by the President of the Republic of Rwanda to join the government team where she successively served as Minister of Information from 2008 to 2009 and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation from 2009 to 2018.
Louise Mushikiwabo has a master degree in languages and interpretation from the University of Delaware in the United States. Marked by the genocide perpetrated against the Tutsi in 1994, she co-signed in 2006 the book "Rwanda Means the Universe", published by Saint Martin's Press, an autobiographical socio-historical memoir. She is also recipient of the 2004 Outstanding Humanitarian Award from the American University & School of International Studies.