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Morocco King appoints Fatima Al Mansouri as country's first woman Prime Minister
Al Mansouri was born on January 3, 1976 in the city of Marrakesh. She has two children
- PUBLISHED: Tue 29 Sept 2026, 8:02 PM UPDATED: Tue 29 Sept 2026, 8:38 PM
King Mohammed VI of Morocco on Tuesday named Marrakesh mayor Fatima Ezzahra Al Mansouri as the country's first woman prime minister, the royal cabinet said, after her party won last week's parliamentary elections.
Al Mansouri, who has also served as the kingdom's minister of habitat, was received by King Mohammed VI at the royal palace and was "tasked with forming the new government", the cabinet said.
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Al Mansouri's liberal, centrist party came out on top in parliamentary elections, which was held on September 23, after a late boost from the man credited with leading the national football team to global fame.
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The Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) — which was the second-largest member in the outgoing coalition — moved up to the top spot, bolstered by the recruitment of Fouzi Lekjaa, Morocco's football federation chief and two-time government budget manager, who joined weeks before the vote.
The party took 97 seats in the 395-seat parliament — up from the 87 it secured in the last vote in 2021, according to the results, delivered by Interior Minister Abdelouafi Laftit in a news briefing.
Al Mansouri will be Morocco's first woman Prime Minister. However, Najla Bouden Romdhane of Tunisia was the first woman to serve as prime minister in the Arab world when she took office in 2021. She remained in office until August 2023.
Who is Fatima Ezzahra Al Mansouri?
Fatima Ezzahra Al Mansouri was born on January 3, 1976, in the city of Marrakesh. She holds a degree in Anglo-Saxon law from Pace University in the United States, a postgraduate diploma in business contract law from the University of Montpellier, and a bachelor’s degree in private law from Mohammed V University in Rabat.
She served as Minister of National Territory Planning, Urban Planning, Housing and City Policy from 2021 to 2026 and has been a lawyer registered with the Marrakesh Bar Association since March 22, 2005, specialising in property law.
She began her political career by joining the Movement for All Democrats in 2007 and was also a founding member of PAM in 2008. From 2009 to 2015, she served as president of the Marrakesh Municipal Council.
She was elected as a member of parliament from 2011 to 2016. She previously served as president of the National Council of the Authenticity and Modernity Party from 2015 to 2024 and was re-elected as a member of parliament for the 2016–2021 term. She has also served as president of the Marrakesh Municipal Council since 2021, with her current term running until 2027.
Since 2024, she has served as coordinator of the collective leadership of PAM.
In 2014, Forbes magazine named her among its list of the 20 most influential young women in Africa. That same year, she was also selected as one of the Young Global Leaders.
Al Mansouri is a member of the International Association of Francophone Mayors and vice-president of the Moroccan Association of Presidents of Municipal Councils. She is married and has two children.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Yasmin Hussein is an Assistant Digital Editor who believes that every news story carries a human element. Her motto is 'get it first, but first get it right'.