Sahle-Work Zewde is the President of the Federal democratic Republic of Ethiopia since October 2018. Sahle-Work replaced the former President Mulatu Teshome becoming the first woman to hold the office.

Prior to becoming president, Sahle-Work Zewde was appointed by António Guterres as Special Representative to the African Union and Head of the United Nations Office to the African Union (UNOAU) at the level of Under-Secretary-General on July 27, 2018. Sahle-Work Zewde was the first women to be appointed for the position.

She had also worked in diplomacy for over 30 years and has served as Ethiopia’s ambassador to France, Djibouti, Senegal and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

Sahle-Work Zewde is a Natural Sciences graduate of the University of Montpellier, France.