Marie Khone Faye is the first wife of President

Bassirou Diomaye Faye Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye (; born 25 March 1980), commonly known mononymously as Diomaye, is a Senegalese politician and former tax official who is serving as the fifth and current president of Senegal since 2024. He is the general secretary ...

, co-wife of Absa Faye, and

First Lady of Senegal The first lady of Senegal (French language, French: ''Première Dame du Sénégal'') is the title attributed to the wife of the president of Senegal. The country's current first lady is wife of President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who had held the p ...

Early life and education

Marie Khone Faye is the oldest child of a family of seven children. Her father, Mbaye Faye, is a retired teacher in Ndiaganiao and her mother, Coumba Faye, is a stay-at-home mother. She did elementary studies at the Marie Béatrice School of the Catholic Mission. She holds a baccalaureat from the Abdoulaye Sadji High School in

Rufisque Rufisque (; Wolof: Tëngeéj) is a city in the Dakar region of western Senegal, at the base of the Cap-Vert Peninsula east of Dakar, the capital. It has a population of 295,459 (2023 census).

, a degree from

Cheikh Anta Diop University Cheikh Anta Diop University (), also known as the Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar, is a university in Dakar, Senegal. It is named after the Senegalese physicist, historian and anthropologist Cheikh Anta Diop and has an enrollment of over 60, ...

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

and a master's degree in

Bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

ing and

Insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to protect ...

from the Higher Institute of Management in Dakar. Regarding her marriage, her father said:

"One day, Bassirou came here to tell me that he wanted to get married. My response was: Well, do you want me to go and ask for a girl's hand in your name? He tells me no. My wife doesn't leave this house. I ask him again. But who is this one? He said to me: Marie Khone, your daughter."

Career

In 2015 and 2016, Marie Khone Faye worked at a

microfinancing Microfinance consists of financial services targeting individuals and small businesses (SMEs) who lack access to conventional banking and related services. Microfinance includes microcredit, the provision of small loans to poor clients; saving ...

institution.

First Lady of Senegal

She became First Lady, at the same time as her co-wife Absa Faye, at the

investiture Investiture (from the Latin preposition ''in'' and verb ''vestire'', "dress" from ''vestis'' "robe") is a formal installation or ceremony that a person undergoes, often related to membership in Christian religious institutes as well as Christian kn ...

of their husband Bassirou Diomaye Faye.

Personal life

Marie and her husband, Faye have four children, three boys and one girl.

References

{{Portal bar, Feminism, Politics, Senegal First ladies of Senegal 21st-century Senegalese people Living people 21st-century Senegalese women Year of birth missing (living people)