Sahle-Work Zewde

President of Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

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Born 1950 · age 76

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Age
76
Born 1950

Summary

Updated 2026-09-08

Ethiopia's first woman president, holding the office from 2018 to 2024 after a unanimous parliamentary vote — a diplomatic career that landed her at the top of a federal system where women had never led before.

Biography

About

Born 21 February 1950, Sahle-Work Zewde built her path through diplomacy, working in roles that kept her outside the country's most visible political fights. On 25 October 2018, the Federal Parliamentary Assembly elected her president unanimously, breaking a threshold that had held since the republic's founding. She served until 2024. Forbes ranked her 93rd on its list of the world's 100 most powerful women — the highest-ranking African woman that year — a measure of attention more than authority in a role that carried symbolic weight but little executive power.

Voice

In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from Sahle-Work Zewde

Sahle-Work Zewde

said2020

Africa’s future depends on how we empower our youth today.

— Source: Keynote address at the UN Economic Commission for Africa, 2020.

Sahle-Work Zewde

said2019

Women bring a different perspective to leadership, one rooted in inclusiveness and compassion.

— Source: African Union Gender Equality Forum, 2019.

Sahle-Work Zewde

said2019

Democracy must deliver dignity and hope, not just institutions.

— Source: Speech at the Ethiopian Parliament, 2019.

Sahle-Work Zewde

said2018

Peace is not simply the absence of war; it is the presence of justice, equality, and opportunity.

— Source: Inaugural speech as President of Ethiopia, 2018.

Sahle-Work Zewde

saidundated

I dream of an Ethiopia, of an Africa that is free of hunger, a world where no mother should bury their child because of hunger or worst still because no one cares.

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

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