Djibouti has appointed a new Minister of Foreign Affairs to replace Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, who was elected in February as the head of the African Union Commission. The appointment was made official in a presidential decree published on April 1.

Abdoulkader Houssein Omar, former ambassador to Kuwait and Jordan, has been named Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and Government Spokesperson, according to the decree signed by President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh.

“This is not considered a cabinet reshuffle; it’s the only change within the government,” said presidential spokesperson Alexis Mohamed, speaking to AFP.

20 Years Leading Djiboutian Diplomacy

The former foreign minister, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, had served as the face of Djibouti’s diplomacy for nearly two decades.

Strategically located across from Yemen at the mouth of the Red Sea, near the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait—where a significant portion of global trade flows between Asia and the West—Djibouti plays a central role in regional stability. The country hosts military bases belonging to France, its former colonial power, as well as to the United States and China.