Stergomena Lawrence Tax (born 6 July 1960) is

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

's minister for foreign affairs and East African cooperation since 2022. She was previously Minister of Defence and National Service from 2021 to 2022, becoming the first woman to hold the title since the country’s independence. Before that she served as the executive secretary of the

Southern African Development Community The Southern African Development Community (SADC) is an inter-governmental organization headquartered in Gaborone, Botswana. Its goal is to further regional socio-economic cooperation and integration as well as political and security coopera ...

(SADC).

Early life

Tax was educated at a number of primary schools in Tanzania and at Lake Secondary School in Mwanza where she was a contemporary of Tanzanian fifth president

John Magufuli John Pombe Joseph Magufuli (29 October 1959 – 17 March 2021) was the fifth president of Tanzania, serving from 2015 until his death in 2021. He served as Minister of Works, Transport and Communications from 2000 to 2005 and 2010 to 2015 and w ...

. She obtained her

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (abbreviated BComm or BCom; also, ''baccalaureates commercii'') is an undergraduate degree in business, usually awarded in Canada, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Ireland, New Zealand, Ghana, South Africa, Myanmar, ...

degree in Finance from the

University of Dar es Salaam The University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) is a public university in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. It was established in 1961 as an affiliate college of the University of London. The university became an affiliate of the University of East Africa (UEA) in ...

in 1991. She thereafter obtained a

Master of Philosophy The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil ...

in Policy Management and Development Economics and a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in International Development from the

University of Tsukuba is a public research university located in Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan. It is a top 10 Designated National University, and was ranked Type A by the Japanese government as part of the Top Global University Project. The university has 28 colle ...

in Japan.

Career

She served as the Permanent Secretary at the

Ministry of East African Cooperation The Ministry of East African Cooperation (MEAC) was a government ministry responsible for coordinating Tanzania's political, economic, military, social, and cultural relations with the other countries of the East African Community. The ministry w ...

from 2008 to 2013 when she was appointed as the Executive Secretary of the

at the 33rd Summit of the Heads of State and Government in Lilongwe,

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeas ...

. In August 2021 she was replaced by Elias Mpedi Magosi as secretary of SADC. On 10 September 2021 she was nominated Member of Parliament by President Samia Suluhu Hassan. On 12 September 2021, she was appointed minister of defence. On 3 October 2022, she was appointed minister of foreign affairs.

References

External links

Profile: Stergomena Tax
at SADC 1960 births Living people Defense ministers of Tanzania Female defence ministers Female foreign ministers Foreign ministers of Tanzania Lake Secondary School alumni People from Mwanza Region Southern African Development Community people University of Dar es Salaam alumni University of Tsukuba alumni {{Tanzania-diplomat-stub