In a historic event, the first woman Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan, and the first woman to be US Vice President Kamala Harris, held a joint press conference April at the White House, to discuss matters of mutual interest to the two nations.
Dressed in her traditional hijab, Hassan, known for her impeccable Tanzania Kiswahili, was equally impeccable when communicating in English, causing laugher when he told Harris she’d be taking advantage of the US status as home of the greatest entertainers, to launch an effort to attract tourism and investment to Tanzania.
Harris noted Hassan’s trip was already successful having yielded more than $1 billion dollars in investment to the country.
Hassan is the 6th Tanzanian President, and the first woman to become President in East Africa. Harris on her part is the African-Asian American Vice President in the U.S. history.
Hassan became President after the death of President John Pombe Magufuli, a charismatic leader who died after denying the existence of Covid-19. Upon ascending to the presidency, Hassan took a different path, encouraging Tanzanians to take the Covid vaccine and publicly taking one herself.
Known in Tanzania as mama Samia, Hassan is currently the only woman head of state in Africa.
See the Voice of America video of this historic moment below.
