Retired army officer Alfonso Lenhardt has been nominated by president Barack Obama as the new United States ambassador to Tanzania. The nomination must be confirmed by the US senate before the new envoy can take up his post.

Lenhardt, an African-American, comes to Tanzania from National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC), of which he was president and chief executive officer. He served in the US army for 31 years before retiring from the military as a major general in 1997.

He replaces Mark Green, who served as ambassador to Tanzania from mid-2007 to January this year.