US vice president Harris congratulates Tanzania’s first first woman president Hassan

US Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday congratulated Tanzania’s new president Samia Suluhu Hassan, the first woman to hold that office, and said the United States was ready to strengthen ties between the twocountries.

Harris, the first woman and first person of color to serve as US vice president, made the comment in a posting on Twitter.

“Sending best wishes to @SuluhuSamia following her swearing in as Tanzania’s new President - the first woman to hold the office. The United States stands ready to work with you to strengthen relations between our countries,” she wrote.

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Hassan, who had been vice president since 2015, on Friday urged the country to unite and avoid pointing fingers after the death of John Magufuli,
her COVID-19 sceptic predecessor.

Tanzania’s new President Samia Suluhu Hassan inspects a guard of honor mounted by the Tanzania Peoples Defense Forces after she was sworn into office following the death of her predecessor at State House in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on March 19, 2021. (Reuters)

The US Trade Representative’s office is leading US efforts to forge a new trade and investment partnership with the East African Community, a regional organization that includes Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.

Total trade between the two countries was $462 million in 2019. US foreign direct investment (FDI) in Tanzania was $1.5 billion in 2019, a 5.2 percent increase from 2018, according to US government data.

Read more: Tanzania’s COVID-19 skeptic leader Magufuli dies of heart disease