Deputy Director General appointed to Department for Africa, the Middle East and Latin America

The Government appointed Counsellor for Foreign Affairs Timo Olkkonen to serve as Deputy Director General of the Department for Africa, the Middle East and Latin America for a fixed term from 1 September 2025 to 31 August 2029.

Olkkonen transfers to the post of Deputy Director General from the European External Action Service, where he has served as Head of EU Delegation in Zimbabwe and in South Sudan. Previously, he served as Head of Mission at Finland’s Embassy in Lusaka in 2014–2018 and as Director of the Unit for General Development Policy and Planning at the Department for Development Policy in 2010–2014.

In addition, Olkkonen has inter alia worked as a national expert at the European Commission’s Directorate-General responsible for development cooperation, at Finland’s Permanent Representation to the European Union in Brussels and at Finland’s Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya.

Olkkonen joined the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in 1999. He holds a Master of Arts degree.