Abiy Ahmed

Abiy Ahmed Ali (Oromo: Abiyi Ahmed Alii; Amharic: ዐብይ አሕመድ ዐሊ; born 15 August 1976) is an Ethiopian politician who is the current Prime Minister of Ethiopia since 2018 and the leader of the Prosperity Party since 2019.^[1][2]

Born in Beshasha to a Muslim father and a Christian mother, Abiy joined the rebel forces fighting against the Derg regime in his teens, later rising to Lieutenant Colonel in the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF). He rose through the ranks of government via the Information Network Security Agency (INSA), which was established in 2006.^[3] In the 2010 national election, Abiy became an elected member of the Ethiopian parliament, representing the district of Agaro. He was then elected Prime Minister by the House of Peoples’ Representatives on 2 April 2018, following the resignation of his predecessor from the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) that governed Ethiopia for 28 years.^[4][5]

Abiy initially embarked on sweeping political reforms, releasing thousands of political prisoners and unbanning opposition groups. He was awarded the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize "for his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighbouring Eritrea".^[6] As part of his economic reforms, Abiy pursued large-scale privatisation of state-owned enterprises and liberalised several key sectors, including the Ethiopian Airlines. In 2019, he disbanded the EPRDF and formed his own party, the Prosperity Party.^[7][8]

Following rising ethnic and political tensions in 2020, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) attacked the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) Northern Command, starting the 2-year Tigray War between the combined forces of the ENDF and the Eritrean army against forces loyal to the TPLF and the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA). The war resulted in severe humanitarian crises, widespread displacement, and thousands of deaths.^[9] After the Pretoria Agreement ended the Tigray War, Abiy began an effort in 2023 to consolidate all remaining regional militias into the ENDF. Fano rebuffed requests to disarm and integrate into federal forces, instead attacking the ENDF and beginning the War in Amhara.

Since 2019, Ethiopia has undergone democratic backsliding under Abiy's premiership,^[10][11] marked by severe human rights violations, media censorship, internet shutdown, civil conflicts, systematic persecution and ethnic violence in the Tigray, Amhara and Oromia regions of Ethiopia.^[12][13][14] Politically motivated purges also became common and many journalists and activists were arrested by police for alleged breach of "constitutional laws".^[15][16] Abiy is also believed to lead and organize Koree Nageenyaa, a secret service that purportedly commits unlawful detentions and extrajudicial killings in the Oromia Region with the aim of suppressing uprisings.^[17][18][19]