About Me

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Rama served as Minister for Culture and Tourism for Mali from 2014 to 2020. She graduated from Barry University in South Florida, United States with a degree in International Marketing and Communications. She has a master’s degree from the University of Columbus. In addition, she studied at the Ecole de Guerre Économique in Paris France, where she earned a post-master’s degree in Economic and Competitive Intelligence. Rama is a respected role model for children and women and for long she has spoken up about women, equality, inclusion. She has for many years fought for education, equality, and expansion of early childhood education. 

Rama was born in Mali and grew up in an upper-middle class home in Bamako. Her dad, Habib, had a rough start from a humble family, but he was able to work his way up, through education, dedication, and hard work to become one the first Urban Architect in Mali and served as the first National Director of City Planning in Mali. Due to his love for Mali, he went on to contest in election as a Parliamentarian, he won and served three terms and later served two terms as the Vice President of the Mali Parliament. Habib dedicated his life to the growth and modernization of Mali. He was an avid thinker and never liked to leave room for errors. 

Rama's mother, Lalla, was a professor of psychology at the University of ENSUP in Mali for many years. She later became the first female Director for Science and Research Agency for Mali where she served for 5 years. Due to her excellent work at the Agency, she was appointed as the Minister for Works and Employment in Mali under President Moussa Traore. While she was a Minister she fought for unemployment and was very known for her effort in the fight for social justice and peace in the country and later on served as the first Malian female Interim President for few days. Lalla's experience inspired Rama to continue the fight for social justice and peace and harmonizing her country’s relationship with other surrounding countries. 

Rama attended a Christian primary school in Mali and was a member of the Girl Scout. She was raised a devoted Muslim, but most of her close friends will talk about how she had embraced other religions and particularly the culture of Mali. While in high school, Rama studied the twelve Articles of Ancient Mali to learn more about her dear country, little did she know that this will steer the course of her career journey. After graduating high school, Rama gained admission into Barry University, where she became more involved with politics, culture and diversity activities. When she graduated, she returned to Mali to further her interest in Malian culture and heritage.

After college, Rama did not use her parent’s influence to get a big job with a major company in Mali. Instead, she went to work for a non-profit organization as a volunteer to help children with disabilities. Rama later enrolled in University of Columbus for a master’s degree. When Rama completed her master’s degree, she returned to Mali to help drive awareness among the people of Mali of the importance of voting during the election. Up until this time, most citizens in Mali do not vote because they did not believe in the elections system. They believed that the elections were rigged all the time regardless of the votes. Rama started a movement called Citoyens jusqu’au bout, going from one community to another to educate people on the importance of voting. This effort resulted in significant increase in the number of voters for presidential elections from 9% to 34%.

In 1996, Rama started a company called Starcom, a Public Relations company. Through this company she helped public sector and international institution with reputation and brand management. Based on her records and performance, she got an opportunity to do consulting work with the United Nation to develop the strategy for gender equality in Mali. She also helped to develop a strategy for communication for Ministry of Security for Mali. After this, she worked as a contractor for World Bank and oversaw the organization of marketplace development in francophone Africa. Rama also taught competitive intelligence at Sup Management institute for 2 years. 

In 2012, Rama served as the deputy director of presidential campaign for President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, going to communities and cities, working with rural leaders campaigning. 

In 2013, Rama was appointed by President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita as the Minister for Culture and later as the Minister for Culture and Tourism. She served in this position until 2020, when the coup took place, and her government was overthrown.

Rama is passionate about sustainable development of  Africa and its people and recently, she started Fondation Rahma, a foundation dedicated to Sustainable Development Goals to support The Great Green Wall initiative in Africa. This  initiative is a response to the consequences of the effect of climate change in the Sahel-Sudanese region.