After a brilliant military career, he has twice been President of Burundi: from September 1987 to July 1993 and from July 1996 to April 2003. He ensured a peaceful handover of power in his country on two occasions. In 1993, he left office after Melchior Ndadaye was elected President of the Republic. In 2003, he handed over power to Domitien Ndayizeye, under the terms of the Arusha Agreement for peace and reconciliation in Burundi. Since then, President Buyoya has worked to serve the international community: he was a Francophone Special Envoy to numerous countries between 2004 and 2012 and was a member of the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel for Sudan from 2009 to 2012.

In 2012, the African Union appointed him High Representative for Mali and the Sahel, Head of the African-led International Support Mission in Mali (AFISMA); in 2013, this became the African Union’s International Mission for Mali and the Sahel, which he continues to manage today. At a national level, President Buyoya runs a foundation for unity, peace and democracy. 

Publications: Naissance et Organisation du Front de Libération Nationale Algérien, (The Birth and Organisation of the Algerian National Liberation Front), university thesis, 1974, Brussels; Mission Possible, L’Harmattan, 1998, Paris; Les Négociations Inter burundaises, la longue marche vers la paix (Inter-Burundi Negotiations: The Long Road to Peace), L’Harmattan, 2011, Paris.