Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2019 for his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighbouring Eritrea, ending a 20-year-old stalemate. The award to Ali is also an attempt by the Norwegian Nobel Committee to recognise all the stakeholders working for peace and reconciliation in Ethiopia and in the East and Northeast African regions.
He was named as the winner of the 100th Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. The prize, worth nine million Swedish crowns (about £730,000; $900,000), will be awarded in Oslo in December.
Abiy is credited with ending a two decades-old conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea, that has in turn inspired a series of diplomatic breakthroughs in the Horn of Africa region. His reformist agenda has led to releasing political prisoners and granting amnesty to all that had fled the country for criticising the previous regimes. "In close cooperation with Isaias Afwerki, the President of Eritrea, this year’s Peace Laureate Abiy Ahmed quickly worked out the principles of a peace agreement to end the long “no peace, no war” stalemate between Ethiopia and Eritrea. In Ethiopia, even if much work remains, Peace Laureate Abiy Ahmed has initiated important reforms that give many citizens hope for a better life and a brighter future. As prime minister, Abiy Ahmed has sought to promote reconciliation, solidarity and social justice," read a statement from the Norwegian Nobel Committee announcing the coveted prize to Ali. It added that the committee believes it is now that Abiy Ahmed’s efforts deserve recognition and need encouragement.
Ali's had emerged as one of the leading contender for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize even as speculations were running high on 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg.
Ethiopia is Africa’s second most populous country and has East Africa’s largest economy. Previous winners of Nobel Peace prize from Africa include Democratic Republic of Congo’s Denis Mukwege, Kenya’s Wangari Maathai and South Africa’s first black president Nelson Mandela.
Who is Abiy?
Abiy became the prime minister of Ethiopia in April 2018. His more than a year's rule saw end of a state of emergency in Ethiopia with bans lifted on opposition groups from Parliament. He also vowed to liberalise the economy in order to attract investment.
Abiy has also championed women empowerment and showed the way by naming a gender-parity cabinet, appointing the country’s first female president, chief justice and electoral commision chief. His critics, however, is of the opinion that he relied on bold personal initiatives and charisma to drive change instead of working through government institutions, according to africanews.com.
But his reforms reportedly also lifted the lid on Ethiopia's ethnic tensions, and the resulting violence forced some 2.5 million people from their homes.