Namibia swears in first female president

Namibia's new president was sworn in on Friday. She will lead a country facing high unemployment, inequality, and poverty.

Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah is Africa's second-ever directly elected female president. She is also Namibia's first female head of state.

"If things go well, it will be a good example," she said on BBC's Africa Daily podcast. "But if anything goes wrong, people may blame women."

The 72-year-old won the election in November with 58% of the vote. Nandi-Ndaitwah has been a loyal member of the South West Africa People's Organisation (Swapo). This party has been in power since Namibia gained independence in 1990.

She joined Swapo at just 14 years old when it was a liberation movement against apartheid South Africa. While Swapo has made improvements for the black majority, apartheid's legacy remains.

"Land is a serious problem in this country," she told the BBC before her inauguration. "Some white citizens and absent landowners still occupy land."