Abiy Ahmed

Abiy Ahmed,

1976–, Ethiopian political leader. Joining the Ethiopian army in 1993, he served in the intelligence service, the UN peacekeeping mission in Rwanda, and the border war between Ethiopia and Eritrea. A member of the Oromo People's Democratic Organization within the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), he was the founding director of the Ethiopian Information Network Security Agency (2007–10), was elected to the Ethiopian house of representatives (2010), and was named minister of science and technology (2017). In 2018, following antigovernment protests in the regions of Oromia and Amhara, Abiy became EPRDF chairman and prime minister, becoming the first Oromo to hold the post. Abiy subsequently ended the state of emergency, freed political prisoners, announced economic reforms, and reestablished diplomatic relations with Eritrea.