NAIROBI (REUTERS) - Tanzania's vice-president Samia Suluhu Hassan will be sworn in as president on Friday (March 19), the presidency said, a historic move that is set to make her the East African country's first female head of state.

She will inherit a country of 58 million people whose economy has been slowed by Covid-19, a pandemic her predecessor downplayed and who questioned the efficacy of vaccines produced to combat it. In a statement, the presidency said Ms Hassan would address the nation after being sworn in and hold a cabinet meeting.