Yassine Fall

Yassine Fall (sometimes spelled Yacine Fall) is a Senegalese economist and politician who has been the country's Minister of Foreign Affairs since April 2024. She worked for fifteen years in various economic and leadership roles for the United Nations and has advised various African governments and organisations on economic policy.

Early life and education Yassine Fall was born in Ndiangue in Richard Toll in the Waalo and grew up in Pikine. Her father was an imam and her mother was a farmer who practiced traditional basketry.

Fall began studying Spanish at the University of Dakar before moving to the University of Villetaneuse in Paris.

Career Fall taught mathematics in Washington, D.C. before establishing an international consulting firm based in Dakar and Nairobi in 1983 called African Economists for Social Change. For five years, she was executive director of the Association of African Women for Research and Development, Fall was invited alongside African heads of state Olusegun Obasanjo, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Amadou Toumani Toure and Alassane Ouattara by billionaire George Soros to establish the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA). Fall joined Ousmane Sonko's political party The African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics and Fraternity (PASTEF). In October 2022, she was appointed vice president in charge of international affairs of PASTEF.

On 5 April 2024, Fall was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs and African Integration by President Faye. Former President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf publicly congratulated her on her appointment, saying on her official X account, "She brings to the role an accomplished track record as an economist and an understanding of the critical importance of advancing #genderequality to meet the continent’s development goals."

Selected publications