Abiy Ahmed

The big political and economic story this year will be Ethiopia and whether its barnstorming Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed can maintain the momentum of reform as he devolves power from the highly controlled state system (see Feature)...

Abiy Ahmed was one of the star attractions at the Davos circus...

Pan-African and pan-global Amid last year's political fireworks Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's plans for trade liberalisation which includes accelerating Ethiopia's World Trade Organisation accession and regional economic integration went under the radar...

After what amounted to an internal coup d'état in the first half of 2018 Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has consolidated his dominance of the EPRDF and now has to work out what to do with his considerable power (AC Vol 59 No 21 Push-ups and makeovers)...

Regional relations were dominated by the sea-change in policy brought about by Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and in November Somalia Ethiopia and Eritrea pledged to turn over a new leaf...

* ETHIOPIA: A perpetual motion prime minister keeps up the pace Without question the appointment of Abiy Ahmed as Prime Minister in March was the political story of the year on the continent...

The rounding up of around 70 individuals after a five-month investigation led by the Attorney General's Office demonstrates that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government intends to punish those responsible for some of the worst excesses of the past...

After disgruntled – and fully armed – troops marched into Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's office in central Addis Ababa on 11 October initial reports unconvincingly suggested the head of government had simply discussed pay with the 250 or so men...

All told the violence and loss of life amounted to a spectacular own goal for both Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's administration and the returning political parties which were banned until Abiy reached out to them earlier this year (AC Vol 59 No 14 From the edge of war to the bridge of love)...

And he wants to step up the US role in Ethiopia whose reforming prime minister Abiy Ahmed was in Washington last month where he met Vice-President Mike Pence as well as teams from the State Department and the Pentagon...

Such views are most common among Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's opponents in the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF) the most powerful member of the ruling coalition before Abiy's appointment indicating that the GERD has become a bone of contention in internal EPRF politics...