First Published on February 15, 2025
In a momentous development for African diplomacy, Algerian Ambassador Selma Malika Haddadi was on Sartuday 14, elected as Vice Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC) securing Algeria’s Diplomatic Triumph: a position of strategic importance within the continental body.
In contrast to the highly visible Moroccan competitor Latifa Akharbach, Haddadi embodies the more subdued African diplomatic approach. After graduating with a degree in law from the University of Nantes, this lawyer and career diplomat has risen through the ranks of the Algerian foreign ministry with a discretion that sets her apart from her Moroccan rival. Her career has been marked by important missions to Sudan, Kenya, and the United Nations.
She represents beauty with brain. She is currently the Algeria’s Ambassador to Addis Ababa and permanent representative to the African Union. Selma Malika Haddadi defeated Latifa Akharbach, the Moroccan candidate on Saturday and was elected Vice-President of the African Union Commission.
Haddadi was elected with a majority of 33 votes, thus obtaining the two-thirds majority required to replace the Rwandan Monique Nsanzabaganwa in this position, whose term had ended. She managed to defeat the Moroccan candidate who was eliminated in the sixth and penultimate round, the withdrawal of the Libyan candidate from the first round, and the Egyptian candidate.
Selma, 47, was recognized by her peers as a seasoned diplomat with over two decades of experience advocating peace and unity on the continent.
From March 2023 to April 2024, she served as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’s Director General for Africa. From 2019 to 2023, she was the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador to Kenya and South Sudan.
From 2015 to 2019, she served as Minister Counsellor and Deputy Head of Mission at the Algerian Embassy in Ethiopia and the African Union. From 2013 to 2015, she served as Deputy Director of Social Development at the General Directorate of Political Affairs and International Security at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Between 2012 and 2013, Haddadi skillfully led Algeria’s Office for Refugees and Stateless Persons at the Directorate General of Legal and Consular Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She served as an Advisor and Head of the Political Section at the Permanent Mission of Algeria to the United Nations in Geneva.
Haddadi pledged to promote the principles of African unity and strengthen the administrative and financial management of the African Union Commission to establish a culture of efficiency, transparency, and accountability at all levels. It should be noted that this project aims to enhance trust and synergy between the Commission and the member states of the African Union.
For the African Union to achieve the goal of ownership of its programmes and aspirations, as defined by the founding fathers and enshrined in Agenda 2063, Ms Haddadi stressed that she would encourage “the prioritization, activation and strengthening of partnerships with African development bodies and institutions, such as the African Development Bank, the African Export-Import Bank and the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD, as the main providers of development projects and funds.”
Haddadi enjoys strong political support within the Algerian regime. “She is close to foreign minister Ahmed Attaf and has the ear of President.
