Married and father of three children, Thani Mohamed-Soilihi was born on June 20, 1972 in Sada, Mayotte. A graduate of the École du Centre Ouest des Avocats de Poitiers, he has been practicing as a lawyer at the Mayotte Bar since 1999, where he served as President of the Bar from 2007 to 2010. He was an opposition municipal councillor in Sada from 2001 to 2008, and was elected Senator for Mayotte on September 25, 2011.
Nominated by RDPI, he won the senatorial elections in September 2017, after which he was appointed Vice-President of the Senate. He became the first overseas French MP to hold this position since Gaston Monnerville.
In 2023, he ran again and won a third term.
Since joining the Senate, he has been a member of the Law Committee, where he focuses particularly on issues related to overseas territories, human rights, and decentralization. He is also engaged in educational, health, and economic issues, especially those of a social and solidarity-based nature, which are particularly relevant in his constituency.
As a statutory member of the Senate Delegation for Overseas Territories, he has led major work on land management. Additionally, he is part of the Senate's Parliamentary Ethics Committee, responsible for ensuring that ethical principles applicable to senators are respected. He is also a member of the Court of Justice of the Republic, a special French jurisdiction empowered to try crimes or offenses committed by government ministers in the performance of their duties.
Alongside his political career, Thani Mohamed-Soilihi has been deeply involved in community and social engagement. He co-founded the association TAMA (“Hope” in Shimaoré), aimed at fighting youth exclusion, which he chaired from 2003 to 2017 — the organization is now known as M’lési Maoré.
He also:
- Chaired the first Family Council for State Wards of Mayotte from 2006 to 2009;
- Co-founded the Regional Chamber of Social and Solidarity Economy (CRESS) of Mayotte, which he chaired from 2014 to 2017;
- Chaired the Supervisory Board of the Mamoudzou Hospital Center (CHM) from 2014 to 2017, and has been a member since 2010.
In September 2024, he was appointed Secretary of State for Francophonie and International Partnerships, reporting to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, and in December 2024, he became Minister Delegate in charge of the same portfolio.