Since 2008, Ambassador Ramtane Lamamra has been the Commissioner for Peace and Security of the African Union (AU). Before being elected as AU Commissioner, he was Secretary-General of the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2005–2007). He also served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Algeria to the Portuguese Republic (2004–2005), Ambassador to the United States of America (1996–1999), Permanent Representative of Algeria to the United Nations (UN) in New York (1993–1996), Ambassador to the Republic of Austria, and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization in Vienna (1992–1993). During his tenure as Ambassador in Vienna, he was Chair of the IAEA Board of Governors (1992-1993) and as Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, he was Chair of the Group of 77 and China in 1994. From 1989 to 1991, he was Ambassador to Ethiopia and Djibouti, and Permanent Representative of Algeria to the Organization of African Unity and to the UN Economic Commission for Africa.

Ambassador Lamamra has also represented the AU in various bilateral and multilateral meetings with partners and international organizations, namely the UN, the European Union, the League of Arab States, the Organization of American States, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the International Organization of la Francophonie. With the UN, he promoted strategic cooperation by establishing and co-Chairing the AU-UN Joint Task Force. Since 2008, he has participated in all annual UN General Assembly meetings and UN Security Council meetings devoted to African issues. In addition, Ambassador Lamamra was a member of the Advisory Council of the “2011 World Development Report on Conflict, Security and Development” issued by the World Bank.

Ambassador Lamamra graduated from the Ecole Nationale d’Administration in Algiers in 1976. Shortly after that, he joined the Algerian diplomatic service in 1976. He was born in 1952 and is married with one daughter. He is fluent in Arabic, French and English.