Ibrahim Boubacar Keita (29 January 1945 – 16 January 2022) was Prime Minister of Mali from 4 February 1994 to 15 February 2000 (succeeding Abdoulaye Sekou Sow and preceding Mande Sidibe) and President from 4 September 2013 to 19 August 2020 (succeeding Dioncounda Traore and preceding Assimi Goita).
Biography[]
Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was born in Koutiala, French Sudan in 1945, and he became a distinguished academic who worked with NGOs. He became a leader of the social democratic ADEMA-PASJ party during the 1990s, and he served as Prime Minister from 1994 to 2000. He was forced to resign due to disagreements with his party, and he founded his own Rally for Mali party. He went on to serve as President from 2013 to 2020 after a few unsuccessful presidential bids in the 2000s, and he presided over the Malian government's war efforts during the Malian Civil War. In 2020, protests broke out due to Mali's declining economy and rampant corruption, and, on 18 August 2020, the Malian Army launched a coup against him. He agreed to resign a day later in order to avoid bloodshed, and he was released from military custody on 27 August. He died at his home in Bamako in January 2022 at the age of 76.