Karim Wade

Karim Meïssa Wade (born 1 September 1968) is a Senegalese politician who served in the government of Senegal as Minister of State for International Cooperation, Regional Development, Air Transport, and Infrastructure from May 2009 to April 2012. He is the son of Abdoulaye Wade, who was President of Senegal from 2000 to 2012. Before joining the government, Karim Wade was President of the National Agency for the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (Agence Nationale de l'Organisation de la Conférence Islamique, ANOCI) and served as an advisor to his father. He was widely seen as a possible successor to his father as president, and his father was widely believed to be grooming him for the position. Early life Wade, the son of Abdoulaye Wade and his French wife Viviane Wade, was born in Paris on 1 September 1968. He attended primary school at the French-Senegalese School of Dakar (part of the les Maristes Cours Sainte Marie de Hann) and completed his secondary education at the School of Saint Martin of France, where he obtained his Baccalaureate degree. He then attended the University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne where he obtained a bachelor's degree in Management Science followed by a master's degree in Financial Engineering. Career Karim's father, Abdoulaye Wade, was elected as President of Senegal in the 2000 presidential election after decades in opposition. In 2002, Karim Wade was named Personal Advisor to the President of the Republic, in charge of implementing major restructuring projects, among which were the New International Airport of Diass, the restructuring of Chemical Industries of Senegal (Industries Chimiques du Senegal, ICS), and the creation of the special integrated economic zone of Dakar.