BY STAFF REPORTER
Abiy Ahmed, in full Abiy Ahmed Ali, (born August 15, 1976, Beshasha, Ethiopia), was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2019 for his efforts toward attaining peace and international cooperation, particularly for his work to end his country’s long-running border dispute with neighboring Eritrea.
Early life and military career
Abiy was born in Beshasha, a town in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. His father, Ahmed Ali, was Muslim, and his mother, Tizita Wolde, was Christian. Abiy is a Pentecostal Christian.
Abiy fought against the Derg (Dergue) regime, which ruled Ethiopia from 1974 to 1991, and later served in the Ethiopian National Defense Forces, where he achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel. While he was in the military, he earned a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering in 2001 from Microlink Information Technology College in Addis Ababa. In 2007 he was made head of the Information Network Security Agency, the Ethiopian government’s organization responsible for cyber security.
Entry into politics
After leaving the military, in 2010 Abiy was elected to the House of People’s Representatives as a member of the Oromo People’s Democratic Organization (OPDO), which was part of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) ruling coalition. In the following years, he would go on to earn a master’s degree in transformational leadership (2011) from the International Leadership Institute in Addis Ababa, in partnership with Greenwich University in London; a master’s in business administration (2013) from Leadstar College of Management and Leadership, in partnership with Ashland University in Ohio; and a doctorate (2017) from the Institute for Peace and Security Studies of Addis Ababa University.
Abiy was appointed minister of science and technology in the federal government in 2016 but held the post for only a short while, leaving in October of that year to serve as the vice president of the Oromia regional government. Within the OPDO party, Abiy was elected head of the secretariat in 2017.
Here are some of Laureate Abiy’s achievements in the past three year since becoming prime minister of Ethiopia.
1. Signing peace deal between Ethiopia and Eritrea
True to his word, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed signed a peace deal between Ethiopia and Eritrea in July, putting to an end two decades of bitter relations. He promised to withdraw Ethiopian forces from the borders and end the killings. In December, barely five months after the peace deal was signed, Ethiopia concluded all arrangements and withdrew its troops from the Ethiopian-Eritrean boarders.
2. Adopted the Visa on arrival policy for Africans across the continent
In line with the African Union’s decision to improve Regional Integration in the continent and while other Africa leaders were still dragging their feet one step forward and two steps back, Ethiopia adopted the Visa on Arrival policy for Africans across the continent.
3. Re-positioned Ethiopian Airlines
He re-positioned Ethiopian Airlines, making the current best airline and one of the biggest Pan-African brands in Africa.
4. Made peace with Somalia
He reconciled his country with Somalia after 41 years and flights to the neighboring country resumed after four decades.
5. Reduced the cabinet size of the country, with more women added
In what was the first in Africa, he reduced his cabinet members to just 20 and surprised the world when he released the list to reveal that ten out of the twenty ministers were women.
6. Ethiopia got its first female president
Ethiopia currently has the only female president in Africa after the Prime Minister appointed Mrs. Sahlework Zewde for the position of president in October. It was swiftly passed by the parliament.
7. Lifted the ban on political exiles
He promised to reach out to opposition both home and abroad, and this he did. In November, he lifted the ban on Berhanu Nega – who had been exiled for many years because of his critical views of the former regime. Berhanu finally returned to Ethiopia, a signal of Abiy Ahmed’s sweeping democratic reforms.
8. Peacemaker in the Horn of Africa
He made himself an emissary in the Horn of Africa and has successfully united the region. The United Nations arms embargo and sanctions on Eritrea was lifted after Abiy Ahmed organized reconciliation between the country and its neighbors with which it was in conflict.
9. The first-year filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam was achieved, with no effect at all on the downstream flow of the Nile River, or the ‘Abay’ as it is known in Ethiopia.
10. Prosperity Party is the ruling political party in Ethiopia established in December 2019 as a successor to EPRDF. Having an overall objective of making Ethiopia a prosperous country, its values are dignity of the people, justice, and multi-national unity.
11. Ethiopia planted 5 billion tree seedlings in the 2020 year to help fight climate change and deforestation.
12. Ethiopia has unveiled its 10-year economic development plan under the theme ‘Ethiopia: An African Beacon of Prosperity’. The ten-year plan will target “to bring quality based economic growth”.
13. ‘Beautifying Sheger’ project was launched as the project is called, is a personal initiative of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed who envisions creating a clean, livable environment for the 5 million plus residents of Addis Ababa.
The project is believed to run along the rivers of Addis Ababa, developing green spaces starting from Entoto to Akaki alongside the 56km river streams until they reach Akaki wastewater treatment plant.
The project also envisions building parks, bicycle paths, walkways, planting of trees and development of urban farms.
14. The Dine for Ethiopia initiative was officially launched by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed earlier in the summer with the vision to develop three new world-class tourist sites in Ethiopia’s regions. Koysha: Located in the Southern region of Ethiopia is blessed with lush hills, green fields and dense forests.
Wenchi: Home to a series of crater lakes, Wenchi, is an oasis in the heart of the Oromia region.
Gorgora: On the northern shores of Ethiopia’s largest lake, Gorgora awaits. A former capital of Ethiopia, this undiscovered gem, a stones’ throw from Gondar, combines medieval history with the unspoiled shores of Lake Tana.
These projects will
- create green local jobs
- mobilize the service sector
- generate foreign and domestic currency for communities
- increase Ethiopia’s share in global tourism thereby supporting the country’s home-grown economic reform agenda, propelling the tourism sector and sustaining our development.
15. Ethiopia’s involvement in the Sudanese crisis involved the country’s prime minister and his personal envoy. First, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed, met Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah Abdelrahman Burhan and members of the FFC in Khartoum on 7 July 2019 in an effort to foster dialogue. Later, a special envoy of the Ethiopian prime minister for Sudan, Ambassador Mohamoud Dirir, was dispatched to be part of the AU-brokered negotiations.
16. Abiy has been unequivocal about the need for international assistance to help African countries manage the challenges presented by the COVID-19 panic. His appeal to the G20 for financial assistance asserted that the virus constitutes “an existential threat to the economies of African countries,” and compelled members of the G20 to recognize that “just as the virus knows no borders, our responses should also know no borders”.
17. Headed the law enforcement operation “Our law enforcement operations in Tigray are proceeding as planned: operations will cease as soon as the criminal junta is disarmed, legitimate administration in the region restored, and fugitives apprehended & brought to justice-all of them rapidly coming within reach.”
The Ethiopian Herald April 2/2021
