By Mohamed Abdi - Reporter
NEW YORK (Dawan Africa) 27 May 2026 – United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Mohamed El-Amine Souef of the Comoros as his new Special Representative for Central Africa and Head of the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA), according to the United Nations.
Souef succeeds Abdou Abarry of Niger, whom the UN chief thanked for his service and contribution to the regional office.
According to the United Nations, Souef brings 35 years of experience in diplomacy, foreign affairs and peacekeeping.
Since March 2025, he has served as Chief of Staff of the African Union Commission. Before that, he was the Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union for Somalia and Head of the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), as well as its predecessor mission, the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), between 2022 and 2025.
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Prior to joining the African Union, Souef served with the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) between 2020 and 2022, and earlier from 2015 to 2017. He also served with the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) from 2011 to 2015.
Souef has held several senior positions in the Comoros government, including Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Member of Parliament, Ambassador to Egypt and Permanent Representative to the League of Arab States, as well as Adviser to the President of the Comoros.
He holds a postgraduate diploma in Modern Literature from Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University in Morocco and a bachelor’s degree in Language and Literature from the University of Medina in Saudi Arabia.
The United Nations said Souef is fluent in Arabic, English, French and Swahili, and has authored six books on politics and geopolitics.
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