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Mauritanian diplomat Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed has been elected the new Secretary-General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), defeating incumbent Secretary-General Hissein Ibrahim Taha of Chad.
The election was held on Thursday, with foreign ministers from the OIC’s 57 member states voting to select the organisation’s next chief.
Cheikh Ahmed is set to succeed Taha, whose term ends in November 2026.
A veteran diplomat with more than three decades of experience in international affairs, Cheikh Ahmed has served in the United Nations and other international organisations.
He has also worked extensively on complex political and security crises in the Middle East and Africa.
He will serve from the OIC headquarters in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Under the OIC Charter, the Secretary-General serves a five-year term, which can be renewed once.
His candidacy had received backing from Africa, with the African Union formally endorsing him in February for the 2027–2032 term.
His election brings a Mauritanian diplomat to the leadership of one of the world’s largest intergovernmental organisations, which represents 57 member states, most of them Muslim-majority countries.