Makane FAYE was born in 1954 in Rufisque, a city in the Dakar region of western Senegal.
He was a class of 1974 at Lycée Abdoulaye Sadji High School in Rufisque. He held a bachelor’s degree in documentation science, a master’s degree in information management and a doctorate in information technology at the Open University Malaysia – OUM Sarawak.
He was the Chief Information Officer (CIO) at African Regional Organization for Standardization – ARSO, Nairobi, Kenya between April 1984 – May 1990.
Makane joined United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, (UNECA)Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia in 1990 as the Chief Knowledge Officer. He retired in 2016 after spending 26years leading the ICT for Knowledge Development and Management program. While in UNECA, Makane was the President of the United Nations Federation of Staff Associations and Unions (FUNSA ).
In 2011 during the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Nairobi, Kenya, Makane led the launch of the African Internet Governance Forum, of which he was the secretary. He became the Chairman of the West African IGF (WAIGF) Planning Committee in 2016. He was also a Faculty member of the African School on Internet Governance (AfriSIG).
Following his retirement from UNECA in 2016, Makane was elected President of the Association of Former United Nations Staff Residing in Senegal and in his spare time, an ICT consultant for Internet development and governance.
In 2020, Makane was elected a member of the Internet Governance Support Association (IGFSA) Executive Committee.
Within the short period Makane joined the IGFSA, he displayed passion and unwavering commitment to the proliferation of the National and Regional IGFs and the sustenance of the ideals of the Internet Governance Forum as a veritable mechanism for inclusive engagement, cooperation and collaboration among all stakeholders in their respective roles in a multi-stakeholder dialogue on addressing various policy issues pertaining to the Internet.
Makane Faye died in a road traffic accident in Senegal on Friday, 26 March 2021, while he was travelling to Dakar from the holy city of Touba.
May his gentle soul rest in peace.
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