Ahunna Eziakonwa (Nigeria) Under-Secretary-General (USG) and Special Adviser of the United Nations Secretary-General on Africa
The UN Office of the Special Adviser on Africa is headed by the Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser on Africa to the United Nations Secretary-General.
Ms. Ahunna Eziakonwa is the current Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser on Africa to the United Nations Secretary-General.
Appointed by United Nations Secretary General António Guterres in June 2026, Ms. Eziakonwa of Nigeria began her tenure of office on 1 August 2026.
Ms. Eziakonwa brings nearly three decades of United Nations (UN) leadership to her new role. In her previous role as UN Assistant Secretary General, Assistant Administrator and Director, Regional Bureau for Africa, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), she oversaw the organization’s support to 46 African countries in pursuing Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as the African Union’s Agenda 2063. Since 2018, she has helped shape UNDP’s strategic approach to economic and political development across the continent.
Ms. Eziakonwa’s experience spans the full breadth of UN work in Africa. She has served as UN Resident Coordinator, Humanitarian Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in three countries - Ethiopia, Uganda and Lesotho – where she coordinated humanitarian action, development strategy and political engagement.
Jean-Paul Adam (Seychelles)
Director (D-2) for Policy, Monitoring and Advocacy
Jean-Paul Adam is the Director for Policy, Monitoring and Advocacy in the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa to the United Nations Secretary General.
He joined the United Nations in January 2020 and served as the Director for Technology, Climate Change and Natural Resources Management in the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa up until June 2023.
Mr. Adam previously served in several Cabinet positions in the Government of Seychelles including Minister of Finance, Trade and the Blue Economy (2015-2016) where he negotiated a debt for climate change adaptation swap in 2015 which placed 30 per cent of Seychelles oceanic space under protection, and launched the process for Seychelles to become the first issuer of a Blue Bond. He also served as Seychelles’ Minister of Foreign Affairs (2010-2015) and Minister of Health (2016-2019).