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“I am a polite lady who talks politely but firmly. I don’t bang tables or threaten people but I have steel in my veins.” Samia Suluhu Hassan, Tanzania’s new president and currently Africa’s only female leader, will need that steel. While she is no “Bulldozer”, as her late predecessor John Pombe Magafuli was known, she is a savvy, experienced and competent politician who is not afraid to take a stand when it matters. She is respected in Tanzania as a thoughtful and considerate consensus builder, calm under fire and a firm believer in due process.
Tanzania’s first female president, however, is navigating uncharted waters. She takes office amid a raging and unchecked Covid-19 pandemic that is devastating her nation. President Hassan will also have to contend with a private sector that is increasingly losing its confidence, and the difficulty of governing a country that is largely alienated from the international community.