UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday announced the appointment of Nicholas Kay, a former British ambassador, as his Special Representative for Somalia.

"Kay is currently the Africa Director at the United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), a position he has held since 2012," a statement released by Ban's spokesperson said.

Prior to this position, Kay served as the British Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) from 2007 to 2010 and the Ambassador to the Sudan from 2010 to 2012.

In his initial career with FCO, Kay served in policy and country positions in London as well as oversees in Spain and Cuba.

The statement added that Kay has "worked for fourteen years as an English language teacher in Brazil, Cyprus, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Spain, and within the United Kingdom."

Kay will be succeeding Augustine Mahiga on June 3, 2013 as the special representative for Somalia.

In the statement, the secretary-general commended Augustine Mahiga's work as the special representative of the country.

Ban "is grateful for his dedicated service for the last three years" and "his exemplary leadership in helping to steer the end of the eight-year political transition in the summer of 2012 is particularly noteworthy," the statement said.

The UN chief also recalls with deep appreciation the fact that "Mahiga's contributions had laid the foundation on which the Federal Government of Somalia with the help of the international community, can now further engage on peacebuilding and the consolidation of security and development initiatives in the country," the statement said.