Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri becomes the third woman to hold the post of Prime Minister in the Arab world.
Published on September 29, 2026
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Updated: 44 minutes ago
King Mohammed VI of Morocco has appointed Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri as prime minister, making the 50-year-old the first woman to hold the position in the kingdom and the third woman to serve as prime minister in the Arab world.
The royal palace said in a statement on Tuesday that El Mansouri, minister of urban planning and mayor of Marrakech, was responsible for forming a new government.
El Mansouri said in a televised speech that his appointment was “truly historic.”
“For the first time in our country’s history, a woman has assumed the responsibility of leading the government,” she said. “It is a source of pride not only for me but for all Moroccan women.”
The appointment comes four days after the results of last week’s elections were announced, with the monarchy-aligned Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) winning the largest number of votes to win 97 of the 395 seats in the House of Representatives, the lower house of the Moroccan Parliament.
The PAM is far from having obtained the 198 seats needed to obtain an absolute majority and will have to build a coalition to govern, which will be El Mansouri’s first task.
The PAM, founded in 2008 by Fouad Ali El Himma, a friend of the king, has expressed its desire to work with all parties. But some, including the Justice and Development Party (PJD) and the Federation of the Democratic Left, announced that they would remain in opposition.
This government coalition will allocate billions of dollars of investments in anticipation of the 2030 FIFA World Cup, which is expected to be mainly hosted by Morocco, Portugal and Spain.
El Mansouri is the third woman to hold the post of Prime Minister in the Arab world after the mandate of Najla Bouden in Tunisia from October 2021 to August 2023, and the current Tunisian Prime Minister Sara Zaafarani, appointed in March 2025.
Born in Marrakech in 1976, El Mansouri studied law, obtaining an advanced studies diploma from the University of Montpellier in France, as well as a degree in Anglo-Saxon business law from New York University in the United States.
She entered local governance early on, when she was elected mayor of Marrakech in 2009, becoming the first woman to hold the position of mayor of the city.
After the end of her first term, she returned to head the Marrakech municipal council following the 2021 elections. She has also accumulated parliamentary experience, being elected member of the House of Representatives during successive mandates.
In October 2021, El Mansouri joined the national government, appointed Minister of National Land Planning, Urban Development, Housing and Urban Policy.
During his mandate, this portfolio was associated with a number of key files, including the direct housing assistance program, reforms related to town planning and land use planning and the file for the rehousing of people affected by the Al Haouz earthquake in 2023.
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