Abiy Ahmed

2.1. Birth and Family

Abiy Ahmed was born on August 15, 1976, in the small town of Beshasha, which was then part of Kaffa Province and is now located in the Jimma Zone of the Oromia Region. His father, Ahmed Ali, was a Muslim Oromo farmer who spoke only the Oromo language. He had four wives, and Abiy was his 13th child and the sixth and youngest child of his mother, Tezeta Wolde. Abiy's childhood name was "Abiyot," meaning "Revolution," a name sometimes given to children in the mid-1970s following the Ethiopian Revolution.

His mother, Tezeta Wolde, was an Amhara and an Orthodox Christian who converted to Islam upon marrying Abiy's father. Tezeta was fluent in both Amharic and Oromo. Abiy married Zinash Tayachew, an Amhara woman from Gondar, while both were serving in the Ethiopian National Defense Force. They have three daughters and one adopted son. Abiy is also known to speak Oromo, Amharic, Tigrinya, and English. He is a fitness enthusiast and regularly engages in physical activities in Addis Ababa.

2.2. Ethnicity and Religion

Abiy Ahmed's ethnic heritage is a blend of Oromo and Amhara roots, reflecting the diverse fabric of Ethiopia. His father was an Oromo Muslim, while his mother was an Amhara Orthodox Christian who converted to Islam. He was raised in a family that embraced religious plurality.

Abiy himself is a Pentecostal Christian. He and his family are regular church attendees, and he occasionally ministers by preaching and teaching the Gospel at the Ethiopian Full Gospel Believers' Church. His wife, Zinash Tayachew, is also a Christian who serves as a gospel singer in her church.

2.3. Childhood and Education

Abiy's early development included attending local primary school in Beshasha and continuing his studies at secondary schools in Agaro town. He showed a keen interest in his own education from an early age and later encouraged others to pursue learning and self-improvement.

While serving in the Ethiopian National Defense Force, Abiy pursued higher education. He earned his first degree, a Bachelor of Arts in computer engineering, from Microlink Information Technology College in Addis Ababa in 2009. In 2011, he obtained a Master of Arts in transformational leadership from the business school at University of Greenwich, London, in collaboration with the International Leadership Institute in Addis Ababa. He further earned a Master of Business Administration from Leadstar College of Management and Leadership in Addis Ababa, in partnership with Ashland University, in 2013.

Abiy began his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) studies as a regular student at the Institute for Peace and Security Studies at Addis Ababa University. He submitted his PhD thesis in 2016 and successfully defended it in 2017. His thesis, titled "Social Capital and its Role in Traditional Conflict Resolution in Ethiopia: The Case of Inter-Religious Conflict In Jimma Zone State," focused on the Agaro constituency and was supervised by Amr Abdallah. However, in 2022, academic Alex de Waal criticized Abiy's PhD thesis, describing it as "perhaps enough for an undergraduate paper" and lacking sufficient depth in areas like social capital or conflict resolution literature. In 2023, de Waal and his colleagues further recommended that Addis Ababa University re-examine the thesis for plagiarism, alleging its presence on every page of Chapter 2. Abiy also published a related short research article on de-escalation strategies in the Horn of Africa in a journal issue dedicated to countering violent extremism.

3.1. Military Service and Intelligence Activities

At the age of 14, in early 1991, Abiy joined the armed struggle against the Marxist-Leninist Derg regime led by Mengistu Haile Mariam. His decision to join was influenced by the death of his oldest brother. He served as a child soldier affiliated with the Oromo People's Democratic Organization (OPDO), a small organization of around 200 fighters that was part of the larger Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) coalition army, which eventually led to the regime's downfall later that year. Given the small number of OPDO fighters in an army dominated by an estimated 90,000 Tigrayans, Abiy quickly learned the Tigrinya language, which facilitated his advancement within the military, particularly in the Tigrayan-dominated security apparatus.

After the fall of the Derg, Abiy received formal military training from the Assefa Brigade in West Wollega, where he was subsequently stationed. By 1993, he became a soldier in the newly formed Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF), primarily working within its intelligence and communications departments. During the Eritrean-Ethiopian War (1998-2000), he led an intelligence team tasked with discovering the positions of the Eritrean Defence Forces.

Following his military service, Abiy was posted back to his hometown of Beshasha, where he, as an officer, successfully addressed critical inter-religious clashes between Muslims and Christians that had resulted in several deaths. His efforts brought calm and peace to the communally tense situation. Later, after his election as a Member of Parliament, he continued these reconciliation efforts by establishing the "Religious Forum for Peace."

In 2006, Abiy co-founded the Ethiopian Information Network Security Agency (INSA), where he held various positions. For two years, he served as the acting director of INSA during the director's leave of absence. In this capacity, he was also a board member of several government agencies involved in information and communications, including Ethio telecom and Ethiopian Television. He achieved the rank of Lieutenant colonel before deciding to leave the military in 2010 and his post as deputy director of INSA to pursue a political career.

3.2. UNAMIR Deployment

In 1995, following the devastating Rwandan genocide, Abiy Ahmed was deployed as a member of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) to the country's capital, Kigali. This experience provided him with direct exposure to post-conflict stabilization efforts and international peacekeeping operations.

4.1. Entry into Politics and Early Activities

Abiy began his political journey as a member of the Oromo Democratic Party (ODP), which had been the ruling party in the Oromia Region since 1991 and was one of the four coalition parties forming the dominant Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). He quickly rose through the ranks, becoming a member of the ODP's central committee and a congress member of the EPRDF's executive committee.

In the 2010 national election, Abiy was elected as a Member of Parliament, representing the Agaro district in the House of Peoples' Representatives, the lower chamber of the Ethiopian Federal Parliamentary Assembly. During his parliamentary service, he proactively engaged in efforts to resolve religious clashes between Muslims and Christians in the Jimma Zone, some of which had turned violent. He collaborated with religious institutions and elders to foster reconciliation, leading to the establishment of the "Religious Forum for Peace," a mechanism aimed at restoring peaceful Muslim-Christian community interaction.

In 2014, while still a Member of Parliament, Abiy was appointed director-general of the newly established Science and Technology Information Center (STIC), a government research institute founded in 2011. The following year, he became an executive member of the ODP and was re-elected to the House of Peoples' Representatives for a second term, this time representing his home woreda of Gomma.

4.2. Rise to Power

Starting in 2015, Abiy Ahmed became a prominent figure in the fight against illegal land grabbing activities, particularly in the Oromia Region and around Addis Ababa. Although the controversial Addis Ababa Master Plan, which was central to these land-grabbing schemes, was halted in 2016, related disputes continued, resulting in injuries and deaths. This struggle against land grabbing significantly boosted Abiy's political career, bringing him into the national spotlight and facilitating his rapid ascent.

In October 2015, Abiy was appointed Ethiopia's Minister of Science and Technology, a position he held for only 12 months. From October 2016, he served as Deputy President of the Oromia Region, working alongside Oromia's president, Lemma Megersa, while maintaining his seat in the Ethiopian Federal House of Peoples' Representatives. He also headed the Oromia Urban Development and Planning Office, where he was expected to drive the Oromia Economic Revolution, land and investment reforms, youth employment initiatives, and continued resistance to land grabbing. During his tenure, he also managed the crisis of one million Oromo people displaced from the Somali Region due to unrest in 2017.

As head of the ODP Secretariat from October 2017, Abiy played a crucial role in forging a new alliance between the Oromo and Amhara ethnic groups, which together constitute two-thirds of the Ethiopian population. By early 2018, Abiy and Lemma Megersa were widely considered the most popular politicians among both the Oromo and other Ethiopian communities, amidst several years of national unrest. Young people in Oromia called for immediate and fundamental change, and Abiy himself advocated for a new political rhetoric based on open and respectful discussion to foster progress and democratic engagement. He resigned from all his posts in the Oromia Region after his election as the leader of the EPRDF.

5.1. Domestic Policy and Reforms

Upon taking office in April 2018, Abiy's government initiated extensive internal policies and reforms aimed at transforming governance, society, and the economy.

5.1.4. Internet Shutdowns and Media Freedom

While Abiy's government initially invited exiled media outlets like ESAT and OMN to return to Ethiopia in 2018, criticisms regarding media freedom and internet access have intensified during his premiership. Although Ethiopia's rank in the World Press Freedom Index improved significantly in 2019, jumping forty positions from 150 to 110 out of 180 countries, this trend has reversed.

Since mid-2019, non-governmental organizations such as Human Rights Watch, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and Amnesty International have reported a rise in arrests of Ethiopian journalists and the closure of media outlets, with the notable exception of ESAT-TV. In 2021, 46 journalists were detained, making Ethiopia one of the worst jailers of journalists in Africa. Prominent cases include the arrest of journalist Gobeze Sisay by unknown plainclothes officers on May 1, 2021, whose whereabouts were initially unknown, and the arrest of Terara Network founder Tamerat Negera in December 2021 on allegations of "disseminating misinformation."

Internationally, Abiy's government suspended the press license of Reuters' correspondent and issued warning letters to BBC and Deutsche Welle correspondents for alleged "violation of the rules of media broadcasting." An analyst from the International Crisis Group was also expelled.

Moreover, politically motivated internet shutdowns have become a frequent and severe tool under Abiy's leadership, despite the country's increasing reliance on cellular internet connectivity. Organizations like NetBlocks and Access Now have described these shutdowns as a "go-to tool for authorities to muzzle unrest and activism." Abiy himself controversially stated in 2019 that the internet is "neither water nor air," implying that his government would cut it as and when deemed necessary.

5.2. Foreign Policy

Abiy Ahmed Ali's foreign policy has focused on regional peace, economic partnerships, and securing Ethiopia's access to maritime ports, though some initiatives have faced challenges and controversy.

In May 2018, Abiy visited Saudi Arabia, securing guarantees for the release of Ethiopian prisoners, including billionaire entrepreneur Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi, who had been detained during the 2017 Saudi Arabian purge. In June 2018, he met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Cairo and, separately, mediated a meeting in Addis Ababa between South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar to encourage peace talks in South Sudan.

In December 2022, Abiy attended the United States-Africa Leaders Summit 2022 in Washington, D.C., where he met with US President Joe Biden. In February 2023, he was welcomed by French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. The following April, Abiy met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Addis Ababa. In early May 2023, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz met with Abiy in Addis Ababa to normalize relations between Germany and Ethiopia, which had been strained by the Tigray War. In July 2023, Abiy attended the 2023 Russia-Africa Summit in Saint Petersburg and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

5.2.1. Eritrea-Ethiopia Relations

Upon assuming office, Abiy expressed his commitment to negotiating an end to the long-standing Ethio-Eritrean conflict. In June 2018, his government announced its agreement to hand over the disputed border town of Badme to Eritrea, thereby complying with the terms of the 2000 Algiers Agreement. This initiative aimed to resolve the state of tension that had persisted between Eritrea and Ethiopia despite the official end of hostilities during the Eritrean-Ethiopian War. Previously, Ethiopia had rejected the international boundary commission's ruling awarding Badme to Eritrea, leading to a "frozen conflict."

On June 20, 2018, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki accepted Abiy's peace initiative and indicated he would send a delegation to Addis Ababa. On June 26, Eritrean Foreign Minister Osman Saleh Mohammed made a historic visit to Addis Ababa, marking the first high-level Eritrean delegation to Ethiopia in over two decades. On July 8, 2018, Abiy became the first Ethiopian leader in over two decades to meet with an Eritrean counterpart, President Afwerki, during the 2018 Eritrea-Ethiopia summit in Asmara. The following day, they signed a "Joint Declaration of Peace and Friendship," officially ending the state of war and agreeing to re-establish diplomatic relations, reopen direct telecommunication, road, and aviation links, and facilitate Ethiopian use of the ports of Massawa and Asseb. This historic reconciliation was reportedly facilitated by the United Arab Emirates, which had established its first overseas military base in Assab, Eritrea. On July 24, Abiy and President Afwerki were awarded the Order of Zayed by the UAE Crown Prince. On September 16, 2018, with Saudi Arabia's mediation, Abiy and President Afwerki signed the "Jeddah Peace Agreement." Abiy was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 for his efforts in ending the war.

Despite these diplomatic achievements, the agreement has been described as "largely unimplemented." Critics argue that little has changed between the two nations in practice. Among the Eritrean diaspora, many expressed disapproval of the Nobel Peace Prize, given the limited practical changes. In July 2020, Eritrea's Ministry of Information stated that "Ethiopian troops continue to be present in our sovereign territories" and that "trade and economic ties of both countries have not resumed to the desired extent or scale." In October 2023, Abiy controversially stated that the secession of Eritrea from Ethiopia in 1993 was a historical mistake that threatens landlocked Ethiopia's existence. He asserted that Ethiopia has "natural rights" to direct access to the Red Sea and warned that if denied, "there will be no fairness and justice and if there is no fairness and justice, it's a matter of time, we will fight."

5.2.2. Port Access Agreements

As Prime Minister, Abiy has actively pursued a policy of expanding landlocked Ethiopia's access to maritime ports in the Horn of Africa region. Shortly before he took office, it was announced that the Ethiopian government would acquire a 19% stake in Berbera Port in the Somaliland region located in northern Somalia as part of a joint venture with DP World. In May 2018, Ethiopia signed an agreement with the government of Djibouti to take an equity stake in the Port of Djibouti, which would give Ethiopia a voice in the port's development and fee structures.

Two days later, a similar agreement was signed with the Sudanese government, granting Ethiopia an ownership stake in Port Sudan. The Ethio-Djibouti agreement also allows the Djiboutian government the option of acquiring stakes in state-owned Ethiopian firms, such as Ethiopian Airlines and Ethio Telecom. This was soon followed by an agreement between Abiy and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta for the construction of an Ethiopian logistics facility at Lamu Port, as part of the Lamu Port and Lamu-Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport Corridor (LAPSSET) project. These developments aim to reduce Ethiopia's heavy reliance on Djibouti's port, which has handled almost all of its maritime traffic since 1998. The potential normalization of Ethiopia-Eritrea relations also opens the possibility for Ethiopia to resume using the ports of Massawa and Asseb, which were its main ports before the Ethio-Eritrean conflict, offering particular benefit to the northern Tigray Region.

5.2.3. Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) Dispute

The dispute between Egypt and Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) has become a significant national concern for both countries. Abiy has taken a firm stance on Ethiopia's water security, warning that "No force can stop Ethiopia from building a dam. If there is need to go to war, we could get millions readied."

In a controversial statement following the murder of Oromo activist, singer, and political icon Hachalu Hundessa, Abiy hinted, without clear motives or obvious suspects, that Hundessa might have been murdered by Egyptian security agents acting on orders from Cairo to stir up trouble in Ethiopia. An Egyptian diplomat denied any involvement, and Ian Bremmer of Time magazine suggested that Abiy might have been "looking for a scapegoat that can unite Ethiopians against a perceived common enemy."

5.3. Political Party Reform

On November 21, 2019, with the approval of the EPRDF ruling coalition, a new political entity, the Prosperity Party, was formed. This party was created through the merger of three of the four constituent parties of the EPRDF-the Oromo Democratic Party (ODP), the Southern Ethiopian People's Democratic Movement (SEPDM), and the Amhara Democratic Party (ADP)-along with five other affiliate parties, including the Hareri National League, the Ethiopian Somali People's Democratic Party, the Afar National Democratic Party, the Gambella Peoples Unity Party, and the Benishangul Gumuz Peoples Democratic Party. The programs and bylaws of this newly merged party were first approved by the EPRDF's executive committee. Abiy has stated that the "Prosperity Party is committed to strengthening and applying a true federal system which recognizes the diversity and contributions of all Ethiopians." Notably, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), a former key member of the EPRDF, refused to join the new Prosperity Party, a decision that would later contribute to significant tensions.

6.1. Tigray War

The Tigray War represents the most devastating conflict during Abiy's premiership, leading to a severe humanitarian crisis and widespread allegations of atrocities.

6.1.1. Causes and Progression

An armed conflict erupted in early November 2020 after TPLF security forces reportedly attacked the ENDF Northern Command headquarters in the Tigray region, prompting the ENDF to launch a military operation. The ENDF was supported by the Eritrean army and special forces from the Amhara Region and Afar Region, while the TPLF was aided by the Tigray Special Force, which later became the Tigray Defense Forces. Hostilities between the central government and the TPLF escalated after the TPLF rejected the federal government's decision to postpone the August 2020 elections to mid-2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, accusing the government of violating the Ethiopian constitution. In defiance, the TPLF conducted its own regional elections, winning all contested seats in the region's parliament. In response, Abiy Ahmed redirected funding from the top level of the Tigray regional government to lower ranks in an attempt to weaken the TPLF.

The central trigger of the conflict, as stated by Abiy and reported by Seku Ture, a TPLF member, was the alleged attack on the Northern Command bases and headquarters by TPLF security forces, although this claim is contested. The Ethiopian government announced on November 28, 2020, that it had captured Mekelle, the capital of Tigray, declaring the completion of its "rule of law operations." However, reports indicate that guerrilla-style conflict with the TPLF continued. In December 2021, journalist Declan Walsh reported in The New York Times that Abiy and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki had secretly planned the Tigray War even before Abiy was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, with the aim of settling their grievances against the TPLF.

6.2. Other Internal Conflicts and Violence

Abiy's premiership has also been marked by other significant internal security challenges and violent incidents across Ethiopia.

6.3. Criticism and Allegations

Abiy Ahmed Ali's government and leadership style have drawn significant criticism, particularly concerning authoritarianism, human rights violations, and media suppression.

6.3.2. Media Suppression and Internet Shutdowns

Despite an initial improvement in Ethiopia's ranking in the World Press Freedom Index in 2019, the situation has deteriorated significantly. In 2021, 46 journalists were detained, making Ethiopia the worst jailer of journalists in Africa. Cases include journalist Gobeze Sisay, who was arrested by plainclothes officers in May 2022, and Tamerat Negera, founder of Terara Network, arrested in December 2021 on allegations of "disseminating misinformation." His government has also suspended the press license of Reuters' correspondent and issued warnings to BBC and Deutsche Welle for alleged "violation of the rules of media broadcasting."

Internet shutdowns have become a frequent and severe tactic under Abiy's administration, particularly during periods of social and political unrest. Human Rights Watch noted that communication blackouts without government justification have become routine. Abiy's controversial statement that the internet is "neither water nor air," has been met with backlash, as these shutdowns significantly impact citizens' access to information and freedom of expression.