Lewis, also President of the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee, was unanimously elected during an Annual General Meeting in Guadeloupe.

Barbados Olympic Association (BOA) President Stoute was the founding chairman of CANOC when it was set-up in 2003 to represent the 26 National Olympic Committees based in the Caribbean.

Lewis had stood against him during the most recent elections in 2014, but stepped back after Stoute agreed to relinquish the role following Rio 2016.

insidethegames also understands that 74-year-old Stoute will not re-stand for the BOA Presidency during elections scheduled for 2017.

He was first appointed secretary general of the national body in 1968.

Lewis will now serve in the interim position for the next four months until fresh elections take place at an Extraordinary General Assembly scheduled for Barranquilla, Colombia in February.

In accepting the leadership position Lewis expressed his "sincere gratitude" to Stoute for his "vision and dedicated leadership of the organisation over his 17-year reign". 

He reminded the membership of the numerous challenges facing sport at this particular juncture at the global level and of the organisation’s need to play a leading role in the Olympic Movement, before encouraging them to commit to the resolutions proposed during a CANOC Workshop on governance held ahead of the meeting.

CANOC have joined the Sport Integrity Global Alliance in a bid to improve good governance across the region after a raft of problems, especially in football.

This comes as three Caribbean contenders - St Vincent and the Grenadines' Keith Joseph, Dominican Republic's José Joaquín Puello and St Lucia's Richard Peterkin - are planning to stand for the Pan American Sports Organization Presidency next year.

Suriname Olympic Committee secretary general Astra Singh has been elected to serve on the CANOC Executive Committee to fill the vacancy left by Stoute. 

She duly becomes the first woman to serve on the regional panel.