Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, 56, was elected as the first female President by the Parliament of Mauritius, which received independence from Britain in 1968.
Her appointment comes after former President Kailash Purryag, who was selected by the island’s previous Labour Party government, stepped down after serving as Mauritius’s President since July of 2012.
Ameenah Gurib-Fakim made history by becoming the first woman to hold such a position in this country. Her appointment was widely anticipated, after information that Purryag’s January 2015 resignation was announced.
Prime Minister Sir Anerood Jugnauth told reporters, “I have always believed in the equality of men and women.”
According to officials her Inauguration ceremony is scheduled to take place on Friday.