African leaders chose Djibouti's Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf to chair the African Union Commission on Saturday at a summit dominated by fears of the Congo war widening into a regional conflict, the country's finance minister said.

In a post on the X platform Djibouti's economy and finance minister, Ilyas Dawaleh, said Youssouf had "won" the election.

Youssouf has been foreign minister since 2005. He was previously Djibouti's ambassador to Egypt and has served as foreign minister in the governments of three presidents.