Djibouti’s Foreign Minis­ter, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, has been elect­ed the fifth chairperson of the Africa Union Commission.

The election was held at the just-ended 38th Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Saturday.

He emerged winner of the keenly contested elections after several rounds of voting.

Mr Youssouf polled 33 votes to beat his closest contender, former Kenyan Prime Minister, Raila Odinga.

Mr Odinga had led in the first round with 20 votes but lost grounds to Mr Youssouf in sub­sequent rounds until he became the sole candidate in the seventh round.

The other candidate in the con­test was former Foreign Minister of Madagascar, Richard Randria­mandrato.

As the fifth Chair of the AU Commission, Mr Youssouf is set to be sworn-in in March.

Mr Youssouf, 60, replaces Moussa Faki Mahamat of Chad, who served two terms as AU Commissioner.

He is Djibouti and Africa’s longest foreign minister having occupied that position since 2005.