Ibrahima Kane is a distinguished legal professional with over three decades of experience in human rights litigation and advocacy across the African continent. He holds an LLM in Public Law from the University of Caen in France and a Master’s in Public Law from the University of Dakar. Throughout his prolific career, Ibrahima has specialised in high-level litigation before supra-national bodies, including the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the ECOWAS Court of Justice. His expertise is deeply rooted in institutional development, having served as a senior lawyer and legal officer for INTERIGHTS in London and as the African Union Advocacy Director for the Open Society Foundations.

In addition to his legal practice, Ibrahima is a renowned scholar and policy advisor who has significantly shaped African migration and nationality law. He has directed migration courses at the UN African Institute for Economic Development and Planning (IDEP) and coordinated regional migration programs. A prolific author, his recent contributions include co-editing the second edition of the African Migration Report in March 2024, published by the African Union and the IOM. He has also developed practical guides for West African parliamentarians on migration and the rights of the child, with his work appearing in publications by Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press

Ibrahima’s influence extends into legislative drafting and civil society empowerment. Between 2014 and 2023, he played a pivotal role in drafting the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Specific Aspects of the Right to a Nationality and the Eradication of Statelessness in Africa. His career is defined by a commitment to the rule of law, supported by early roles at the Centre d’étude et de coopération internationale (CECI)) and Rencontre Africaine pour la Défense des Droits de l’Homme (RADDHO) in Senegal.