Few heads of diplomacy can boast the longevity of Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, Djibouti’s foreign minister since 2005, who was elected Saturday to head the African Union’s executive commission.
Youssouf won the required support of two-thirds of the region’s leaders in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa to secure the post representing some 1.5 billion Africans across the continent.
Although Kenya’s candidate in the African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson elections, Raila Odinga won the first two rounds of voting, he lost the next three rounds to Djibouti candidate Youssouf.
Raila garnered 20 votes against Mahamoud’s 18 in the first round, while Richard Randriamandrato of Madagascar got 10 votes. There was one abstained vote.
In the second round, Raila got 22 votes, Mahamoud got 19, and Randriamandrato secured 7 votes. One nation abstained from the second round as well.
Odinga, came up short in the third round with 20 votes, losing to Mahamoud who rose to first place with 23 votes, while Randriamandrato got only 5 votes.
There was still one abstention, and Randriamandrato was eliminated from the election, leaving Raila head-to-head against Mahamoud.
Mahamoud maintained his lead in the fourth round, scoring 25 votes against Raila’s 21 votes. There was one spoilt vote while one nation abstained.
In the fifth round, Mahamoud garnered 26 votes while Raila got 21 votes, and one nation abstained from the vote.
Mahamoud maintained his lead into the sixth round, garnering a similar 26 votes, while Raila received 22 votes with one country abstaining.
Raila was then dropped from the vote, with Mahamoud remaining the only candidate in the seventh round, in a bid to secure two-thirds of the votes.
Mahamoud won the AUC Chair seat after garnering 33 votes, constituting the required two-thirds, in round 7. He will replace the outgoing Moussa Faki of Chad who has held the position for 8 years.
The 59-year-old was deemed an outside shot against veteran Kenyan politician Raila Odinga, but observers praised the career the diplomat’s low-key campaign to succeed Chadian Moussa Faki Mahamat and head the pan-African bloc.
The multilingual politician — who speaks Arabic, English and French — remains close to Djibouti’s leader Ismail Omar Guelleh.
Guelleh called his minister’s election “a proud moment for Djibouti and Africa,” in a message on X.
“His leadership will serve Africa with dedication and vision.”
One of the least populated countries on the continent, home to some one million, Djibouti holds a strategic position facing the Bab-el-Mandeb strait, through which passes much of the world’s trade.
‘Governance problem’
Youssouf has said that there is a “problem with governance” in some African nations, particularly those that have been shaken by recent coups.
“The continent is experiencing many difficulties at the moment,” he told AFP in December.
He said that as commission chairman, “peace and security” would be his priority.
He will have to grapple with the devastating conflicts in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan, as well as huge development aid cuts launched by US President Donald Trump.
Much of the continent has been left reeling by the move to cut funding for the USAID agency, with experts warning it would hobble humanitarian work in Africa.
