Mauritanian Diplomat Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed Elected New OIC Secretary-General

Mauritanian diplomat Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed has been elected as the new Secretary-General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), according to Gulf News.

He was elected on Thursday after securing the votes of the foreign ministers of the OIC's 57 member states, defeating the incumbent Secretary-General, Hissein Brahim Taha of Chad. Taha assumed office in November 2021, and his current term is scheduled to end in November 2026.

With more than three decades of experience in international diplomacy, Ould Cheikh Ahmed has served in the United Nations and several international organizations. He has also played key roles in addressing complex political and security challenges across the Middle East and Africa.

As Secretary-General, he will be based at the OIC headquarters in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Under the OIC Charter, the Secretary-General serves a five-year term, which may be renewed once. The Secretary-General is elected by the Council of Foreign Ministers.

The selection process takes into account geographical balance, rotation, equal opportunity, and the candidate's competence, integrity, and experience. The OIC Charter does not prescribe a fixed rotation among Arab, African, and Asian groups for the post, instead emphasizing fair geographical representation and rotational principles.

Ould Cheikh Ahmed's candidacy had already received broad backing from Africa. In February this year, the African Union formally endorsed his nomination for the 2027–2032 term as OIC Secretary-General, identifying Mauritania as part of the North African region.

His election marks the appointment of a Mauritanian diplomat to lead one of the world's largest intergovernmental organizations. The OIC comprises 57 member states spanning the Middle East, Africa, and Asia, the majority of which have Muslim-majority populations.