Niger’s new president, Mohamed Bazoum, has appointed a largely youthful cabinet with emphasis on expertise.
After assuming office on 1 April, Bazzoum appointed thirty-three ministers including five women six days later.
The same day, Prime Minister Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou, who was appointed at the end of last week, was sworn in before Nigerien MPs.
He will lead the rest of the team that will have apply the policy of erstwhile president Mahamadou Issoufou’s successor.
Issoufou’s son, Mahamane Sani Mahamadou, who was Bazzoum’s campaign manager has been appointed as Minister of Petroleum, Energy and Renewable Energies.
He is reported to have been a brilliant student in the United States and Britain.
His appointment is in line with the new president’s policy.
From now on, the management of public action will be ensured by “executives promoted on the basis of their technical skills and their morality,” he said in his inaugural speech.
Thus, in this first government, many young people are entering even if it marks its anchoring within the formations that make up the presidential movement, namely the Movement for National Renewal (MRN) which backed the candidacy of President Bazoum.
The three main parties constituting this grouping took the lion’s share.
The PNDS has 16 ministerial posts, the MPR five and the MNSD four.
But according to several observers, the government is, in addition to being renewed, more than 50 percent younger.
In addition to Mahamane Sani Mahamadou, other young people have been appointed to head ministries such as Finance, Justice, Planning and National Education.
ODL/te/lb/abj/APA