Louise Mushikiwabo’s campaign for a third term as Secretary-General of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) was a key focus of talks with Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot, ahead of November’s Phnom Penh Summit where the next OIF leader will be chosen.
The two discussed yesterday the role of the OIF in revitalising multilateralism, the promotion of multilingualism and French in international forums, and the risks artificial intelligence poses to linguistic and cultural diversity in digital spaces, areas that have featured prominently in Mushikiwabo’s leadership of the organisation since 2019.
Nominated by Rwanda for a historic third mandate, Mushikiwabo’s candidacy comes as she seeks to build on a tenure that supporters credit with decentralising the OIF’s structure, increasing its financial autonomy, and expanding its focus into what she has termed “Francophonie économique,” including trade missions aimed at turning the French language into a tool for business and job creation across the Global South.
Prévot said he would meet the three other declared candidates, Juliana Lumumba of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Coumba Ba of Mauritania, and Dacian Cioloș of Romania, before the summit to hear their visions for the organisation, which he described as dear to Belgium.
The OIF’s 53 voting members will choose the next Secretary-General when they gather in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in November, a vote that will determine whether Mushikiwabo, Rwanda’s most prominent diplomatic figure on the global stage, secures an unprecedented third term at the helm of the 88-member Francophone bloc.
