Aïchatou Mindaoudou Souleymane (born 1959)[1] is a Nigerien politician. She served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Niger from 1999 to 2010, with an interruption from 2000 to 2001. She is a member of the MNSD-Nassara political party.[1]
In the first government of Prime Minister Hama Amadou, named on February 25, 1995, Mindaoudou was Minister of Social Development, Population and the Advancement of Women.[2] This government was ousted in a military coup on January 27, 1996.
After another coup in April 1999, Mindaoudou was named Minister of Foreign Affairs and African Integration on April 16, 1999 under the transitional military regime of Daouda Malam Wanké.[3] Although she was not included in the new civilian government named on January 5, 2000, she became Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and African Integration in the next government, which was named on September 17, 2001. [4] She remained in the government of Prime Minister Seyni Oumarou, appointed in June 2007, despite President Tandja Mamadou's decision that ministers who had served in the government for over five years should be excluded from the government on this occasion. Mindaoudou was made an exception because it was considered important to maintain continuity in the conduct of foreign affairs.[5]
Her term as foreign minister ended in March 2010 when the transitional cabinet of Mahamadou Danda took office.