Mauritania’s Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed elected new OIC secretary-general

Foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation member states on Thursday elected Mauritanian diplomat Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed as the new secretary-general of the 57-member bloc, succeeding Chadian diplomat Hissein Brahim Taha.

Ould Cheikh Ahmed’s election follows a career spanning more than three decades in United Nations service and crisis zones, as he now takes the helm of the OIC, which brings together 57 countries.

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The Mauritanian diplomat succeeds Hissein Brahim Taha, who has served as secretary-general since November 2021. Taha’s term is set to officially end in November 2026.

Ould Cheikh Ahmed brings over thirty years of experience in international organizations and crisis management to his new role as OIC secretary-general.