Premiership of Abiy Ahmed 2 April 2018 – present | |
Party | Prosperity Party |
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Seat | Menelik Palace |
| |
Official website |
Abiy Ahmed is currently the third serving Prime Minister of Ethiopia. In 2018, he became the first ever Oromo descent to assume the role of prime minister in the history of Ethiopia. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in his second year as a prime minister of Ethiopia in 2019 becoming the eighth African laureates to win the award for peace.
Abiy Ahmed's tenure as prime minister of Ethiopia began on 2 April 2018 with his swearing-in at the Ethiopian parliament, succeeding Hailemariam Desalegn. Abiy is the first person of Oromo descent to hold the office,[1][2] and became chair of the ruling Prosperity Party after the dissolution of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) in November 2019.[3]
After taking office, he released thousands of political prisoners and initiated a number of major reforms to downsize state-owned enterprises and encourage privatization. Following a summit in 2018, Abiy received the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in resolving the 20-year-old border conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea.[4] Ethnic factionalism and violence continued in other parts of the country, however, eventually becoming a crisis during his tenure; his government was criticized as increasingly authoritarian in the years after he received the prize.[5][6] Hostility between the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and the federal government increased after the 2020 election in the Tigray Region, which the government called illegal. In November 2020, the Tigray War began between the Ethiopian and Tigray governments and their respective military and paramilitary allies. The war caused civilian casualties and displaced thousands of people.[7]