President Donald Trump’s top diplomat in Africa, Troy Fitrell, will retire from the State Department next month, and Jonathan Pratt, the Bureau of African Affairs deputy assistant secretary, will take his position.

“After a long and distinguished career, the Department of State’s Bureau of African Affairs Senior Bureau Official Ambassador Troy Fitrell is retiring as planned,” a State Department spokesperson said.

“The Bureau of African Affairs Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Jonathan Pratt will step into the Senior Bureau Official role after Ambassador Fitrell’s departure,” the spokesperson added.

Fitrell, a foreign service diplomat, formerly served as the US ambassador to Guinea. He has held various positions at the State Department throughout Africa, including director of the Offices of Western and Southern African Affairs. He also served as the Deputy Chief of Mission in the US embassies in Ethiopia and Mauritius.

Fitrell has been leading the State Department’s African bureau since the Senate-confirmed assistant secretary position remains unfilled.

Fitrell, who has been a diplomat for over 30 years, recently stated that the Trump administration is shifting the United States’ approach to Africa from “one rooted primarily in development assistance to a strategy that prioritizes robust commercial engagement.”