Ethiopia’s Parliament on Thursday approved the East African country’s first female president, Sahle-Work Zewde, a veteran of the United Nations and the diplomatic corps. Half the ministers are now women in Africa’s second-most populous country.
She replaces Mulatu Teshome, who tendered his resignation to parliament earlier on Wednesday.
“In a historic move, the two Houses have elected Amb. Shalework Zewde as the next President of Ethiopia. “She is the first female head of state in modern Ethiopia,” Fitsum Arega, Abiy’s chief of staff, said on Twitter.
Political power in Ethiopia is wielded by the prime minister with the president’s role is restricted to attending ceremonies and functions.
Ethiopia’s reformist Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed last week appointed a 20-person cabinet in which half the posts are been held by women.