Foreign affairs minister Olivier Nduhungirehe has said African countries that support a non-African candidate for the position of Secretary-General of the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF) would be going against the African Union's recommendation.

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In a post on X on Thursday, November 12, Nduhungirehe said the AU had endorsed three African candidates for the position, giving African countries the option to choose any of the three rather than support a candidate from outside the continent.

He said individual African countries were free to decide which of the three candidates to support, but argued that backing a non-African candidate would contradict the AU's position.

The three African candidates are Rwanda's incumbent Secretary-General Louise Mushikiwabo, who is seeking another term, Juliana Lumumba of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Mauritania's Coumba Ba.

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They are competing against former Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Cioloș.

Nduhungirehe's remarks refer to an African Union Executive Council decision adopted in July 2026, which endorsed the candidatures of the three African women for the 2027-2030 term.

The AU's endorsement covered all three candidates rather than selecting one of them as the continent's sole candidate. It listed Mushikiwabo as the candidate from the Eastern Africa region, Lumumba from Central Africa and Ba from Northern Africa.

The next Secretary-General of the OIF will be elected at the organisation's 20th Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on November 16. The winner will serve a four-year term from 2027 to 2030.

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Although the OIF brings together 90 member states and governments, only 53 full members are entitled to vote in the election. The remaining members, comprising associate members and observers, do not have voting rights in the process.