Chad: Hayatte Ndiaye

Hayatte Ndiaye is the first woman architect in Chad, the first woman to be nominated and selected as President of the National Order of Architects of Chad (ONAT, 2019–2022), and the first Chadian elected as a member of the International Union of Architects (UIA). She holds a diploma in architecture from L’Institut Supérieur d’Architecture Victor Horta de Bruxelles in Brussels, Belgium (2006). After graduation, she gained professional experience working for the architectural firm Architecture Studio in Paris, France, until she returned to Chad (2009), where in 2010 she founded Hayatt Architecture, based in N’Djamena, Chad.

Ndiaye has served as a member of the international jury for the TERRA Award Sahel, and on the international jury for the Forum of Earthern Construction Actors (FACT Sahel). She attended the first edition of the international conference, “Sustainable Habitat in the Sahel,” which was hosted in N’Djamena (2018). Additionally, while President of ONAT, she co-organized the first architecture roundtable, focusing on “African cities of the future” (2019). Ndiaye was named one of the “50 Influential African Women Architects” by African Column (2025), was featured in the book 100 Women: Architects in Practice (2023), and contributed to a multi-volume series, Architectural Guide: Sub-Saharan African Architecture (2019).