Ethiopian lawmakers have elected Foreign Minister Taye Atske Selassie as the country’s new president—a role that is primarily ceremonial—leaving Africa with just one female head of state.
Atske Selassie succeeds Sahle-Work Zewde, 74, a respected former diplomat who had held the presidency since 2018.
This means Tanzania remains the only African nation with a woman in the presidential role, Samia Suluhu Hassan.
Sahle-Work assumed the presidency shortly after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed took office in 2018. Her appointment enhanced Abiy’s reputation with Western governments, alongside his economic reforms, the establishment of a gender-equal cabinet, and a peace agreement with Eritrea, which earned him the Nobel Peace Prize.
However, a devastating war against Tigray rebels from 2020 to 2022 and ongoing conflicts with other ethnic groups have severely tarnished his international standing, resulting in sanctions imposed by the United States.
Taye, 68, becomes the fifth president since Ethiopia adopted its current constitution in 1995. He can serve a maximum of two six-year terms.
Having only been appointed to the foreign ministry in February, Taye has previously held positions as ambassador to the United Nations and Egypt.