Madar (Nouakchott) - The 20th Francophonie summit opened on Sunday 15 November 2026 in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, with President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani in attendance. The summit carries a particular stake for Mauritania: on Monday, leaders are due to elect a new secretary-general of the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF), a post Mauritania's candidate Coumba Ba is contesting, amid a sharp dispute between DR Congo and Rwanda and French calls for "unity" and "consensus".
According to the Mauritanian News Agency (AMI), President Ghazouani attended the opening ceremony of the summit, which is discussing issues led by strengthening peace and international cooperation and supporting sustainable development, as well as electing the organisation's secretary-general for a new four-year term. The summit runs on 15 and 16 November under the theme "Reinvest in peace for shared prosperity and lasting stability", according to the OIF's official website.
Ghazouani arrived in Phnom Penh on Saturday morning from Antalya, Turkey, where he attended the UN climate conference (COP31) and received the secretary general of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed. His delegation includes, according to AMI, the First Lady, the minister heading the president's office, Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Mauritanians Abroad Minister Mohamed Salem Ould Merzoug, the president's special envoy to the OIF Coumba Ba, Mauritania's ambassador in Phnom Penh, the permanent delegate to UNESCO and advisers at the presidency.
Diplomatic activity on the sidelines of the ministerial conference
The summit was preceded on Saturday by the opening of the 48th session of the Ministerial Conference of La Francophonie, devoted to reviewing the implementation of the commitments of the 19th summit and preparing the organisation's upcoming milestones. In his speech, Ould Merzoug praised the report presented by France on implementing those commitments and said Mauritania was committed to "turning the decisions of Francophonie summits into concrete and lasting action", according to AMI.
On the sidelines of the conference, Ould Merzoug held separate talks with Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand, French Minister Delegate for Francophonie and International Partnerships Eleonore Caroit, and Vietnamese Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Manh Cuong. The meeting with the French minister covered "ways to coordinate positions in support of Mauritania's candidate for the post of secretary-general", while the Mauritanian and Vietnamese sides discussed "mechanisms to strengthen coordination" in support of the same candidate, as well as cooperation in energy, gas and geological research, according to AMI. Coumba Ba attended the meetings with the Canadian minister and the Vietnamese deputy minister.
Mauritania's candidate and her campaign
Mauritania announced on 17 April 2026, in a foreign ministry statement, Coumba Ba's candidacy for OIF secretary-general, calling on member states and governments to back it. The statement described her as "a seasoned diplomat and former minister", appointed in 2024 as the president's special envoy to the OIF with the rank of minister-counsellor, and said the bid reflected Mauritania's wish to "contribute actively to strengthening multilateralism and promoting cultural diversity", according to AMI.
Since then, Nouakchott has sent ministers and envoys to member capitals, including the livestock development minister, who toured Djibouti, the Comoros and Madagascar in June, and the environment minister, who carried a presidential message to the Gabonese president. In July, the minister secretary-general of the government led a tour of Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos, carrying letters from President Ghazouani to the three countries' leaders, according to AMI. In early November, Ould Merzoug handed a message from President Ghazouani to the Greek president in Athens, partly concerning support for the Mauritanian candidate.
During the South-East Asia tour, Coumba Ba presented a programme centred, according to AMI, on "building a more united and effective Francophone space", giving priority to young people, skills mobility, innovation and economic cooperation. In an interview with France 24 in October, she said bringing Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso back into the organisation would be an "absolute priority" if elected, adding that she preferred consensus but was ready for a vote if heads of state so decided, and that she had visited more than 40 of the 53 countries with voting rights.
A four-way race and a DR Congo-Rwanda rift
Besides Coumba Ba, the race features outgoing Secretary-General Louise Mushikiwabo of Rwanda, who has led the OIF since 2018 and is seeking a third term, former Romanian Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos, and Congolese candidate Juliana Lumumba, daughter of independence hero Patrice Lumumba. On Saturday, DR Congo said it was ready to withdraw Juliana Lumumba's candidacy to "facilitate the emergence of a consensus candidate" and to back Dacian Ciolos, according to international media citing AFP.
Kinshasa has threatened to leave the organisation if Mushikiwabo is re-elected, accusing Rwanda of backing the M23 armed group in eastern Congo, an accusation Kigali denies, according to DW citing AP and AFP. Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe said Mushikiwabo would stay in the race. Rwanda said French President Emmanuel Macron had asked President Paul Kagame to withdraw its candidate and that it refused, while the Elysee said Paris had suggested that both candidates step aside, according to the same source.
In his opening speech, Macron, who handed the summit chairmanship to Cambodia, called for the organisation's unity to be preserved, saying its enlargement "requires us to build consensus to preserve the union" and that "the Francophonie we want is not a Francophonie of withdrawal or internal divisions", according to TV5Monde.
According to the programme published by Financial Afrik and reported by Madar, the secretary-general will be elected on Monday in a closed session of heads of state and government, with the winner's name to be announced at the closing session. Media reports say the choice is expected this time to be made by a vote between candidates, whereas it has usually been reached by consensus.
What Mauritania has at stake
The OIF has 90 states and governments, including 53 full members, 5 associate members and 32 observers, and a 2026 budget of about EUR 71.7 million, with France the largest contributor, according to Al Jazeera citing agencies. Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso announced their withdrawal from the organisation in March 2025 after their membership was suspended following military coups, an issue that directly concerns Mauritania's neighbourhood.
Mauritania's bid comes months after former Mauritanian Foreign Minister Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed was elected secretary general of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in August, following a broad diplomatic campaign led by Nouakchott. At the end of the July tour, the minister secretary-general of the government said these efforts reflected President Ghazouani's wish to "pursue an active diplomacy" that "strengthens Mauritania's presence within multilateral organisations", according to AMI.
The OIF runs several cooperation programmes in Mauritania, the most recent being the "Innovation and advocacy for clean cooking" initiative, which funded ten income-generating projects in Zouerate last week.
What remains to be decided
As of 10:00 GMT this morning, AMI had given no details of President Ghazouani's meetings on the sidelines of the summit, and the OIF had issued no official announcement on the withdrawal of any candidate or on the details of the voting procedure. The name of the next secretary-general will depend on Monday's closed session. Madar will follow the race.
