Ethiopia has replaced Africa’s second most-populous first female President Sahle-Work Zewde with the country’s foreign minister Taye Astike Selassie, 68.
- •The decision became final on Monday, after Ethiopia’s parliament approved the appointment.
- •President Sahle Work fell out with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, after an initial camaraderie during her appointment in 2018.
- •The position is largely ceremonial in the larger scheme and structure of Ethiopia’s political scene.
Ethiopia is in an economic crisis with multiple internal crisis, including an ongoing transfer of weapons from Egypt to Somalia after Addis Ababa made a move for a route to the sea through Somaliland.
Djibouti has been Addis Ababa’s only route to the sea since Asmara seceded from Ethiopia, and with it the ancient country’s only route to the sea, in the early 1990s. It has since offered an exclusive port as part of regional plans to ease the multiple, ongoing tensions about Africa’s second most populous country lacking a viable route to the sea.
Taye Astike has been the country’s foreign minister since February 2024.
