Mauritanian diplomat Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed has been elected as the new Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Foreign ministers from the organization’s 57 member states elected him through a vote. Online news outlet Gulf News reported this development. In the election held on Thursday, he defeated the incumbent Secretary-General, Chad’s Hissein Brahim Taha, to succeed him. Taha assumed office in November 2021, and his term was scheduled to end in November 2026. With over three decades of experience in international diplomacy, Ould Cheikh Ahmed has served in various international institutions, including the United Nations. He also possesses experience in addressing complex political and security crises across the Middle East and Africa. He will now discharge his duties from the OIC headquarters in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. According to the OIC Charter, the Secretary-General serves a five-year term, renewable once. The Council of Foreign Ministers elects the Secretary-General, prioritizing the candidate’s competence, integrity, and experience alongside geographical balance, rotation, and equal opportunity. The organization’s charter does not mandate a specific sequence for rotating the post among Arab, African, and Asian blocs; instead, candidates are selected based on principles of equitable geographical representation and rotation. Ould Cheikh Ahmed’s candidacy already enjoyed support from the African continent. In February of this year, the African Union formally endorsed his candidacy for the OIC Secretary-General post for the 2027–2032 term, designating Mauritania as a country belonging to the North African region. His election brings a Mauritanian diplomat to the helm of the OIC, one of the world’s largest intergovernmental organizations. The OIC comprises 57 member states spanning the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, with the majority being Muslim-majority nations.
