Abdou Diouf (US: /ˈɑːbduː diˈuːf/ ⓘ AHB-doo dee-OOF; Serer: Abdu Juuf; born 7 September 1935)[1] is a Senegalese politician who was the second president of Senegal from 1981 to 2000.

Diouf is notable both for coming to power by peaceful succession and leaving willingly after losing the 2000 presidential election to long opposition-leader Abdoulaye Wade.

[citation needed] Diouf was born into the Joof family in Louga, Senegal, the child of an Halpulaar mother and a Serer father.

[2] After graduation, Diouf returned to Senegal, where, in September 1960, he was appointed Director of International Technical Cooperation.

[3] This was important, for Senghor's last prime minister, Mamadou Dia, was accused of using the position to launch a coup d'état.

[7] Under Diouf, Senegal agreed to form a confederation called Senegambia with neighboring Gambia on 12 December 1981; this union took place on 1 February 1982.

In April 1989, the Mauritania-Senegal Border War developed, leading to an outbreak of ethnic violence and the severing of diplomatic relations with Mauritania.

[citation needed] One of Diouf's greatest contributions to African peace came from this electoral defeat, for he gracefully surrendered power to Abdoulaye Wade, his long-time rival.

He became Secretary-General in 1981, and when the party was restructured[1] at its Thirteenth Congress in 1996,[12] he was moved to the position of President of the PS,[1] while Ousmane Tanor Dieng became First Secretary, having been proposed by Diouf.

After leaving office as President of Senegal, he was unanimously elected as Secretary-General of La Francophonie at that organization's Ninth Summit on 20 October 2002 in Beirut,[13][14] following the withdrawal of the only other candidate, Henri Lopes of the Republic of the Congo.