The Ghanaian Foreign Minister Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey was elected as the seventh Secretary-General of the Commonwealth at the current meeting of the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Nations in Apia, Samoa.

Ayorkor Botchwey succeeds Patricia Scotland from Great Britain, who stepped down after two terms in office. After 20 years, an African state has now filled this post again. In addition to Ayorkor Botchwey, Lesotho's former Minister of Trade and Industry Joshua Phoho Setipa and Gambia's Foreign Minister Mamadou Tangara stood for election.

Ayorkor Botchwey has been Ghana's Foreign Minister since January 2017 and has headed the Council of Ministers of the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) since July 2020.