Abiy Ahmed is currently the third serving prime minister of Ethiopia. In 2018, he became the first ever Oromo descent to assume the role of prime minister in the history of Ethiopia. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in his second year as a prime minister of Ethiopia in 2019 becoming the eighth African laureates to win the award for peace.

Abiy Ahmed's tenure as prime minister of Ethiopia began on 2 April 2018 with his swearing-in at the Ethiopian parliament, succeeding Hailemariam Desalegn. Abiy is the first person of Oromo descent to hold the office, and became chair of the ruling Prosperity Party after the dissolution of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) in November 2019.

After taking office, he released thousands of political prisoners and initiated a number of major reforms to downsize state-owned enterprises and encourage privatization. Following a summit in 2018, Abiy received the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in resolving the 20-year-old border conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Ethnic factionalism and violence continued in other parts of the country, however, eventually becoming a crisis during his tenure; his government was criticized as increasingly authoritarian in the years after he received the prize. Hostility between the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and the federal government increased after the 2020 election in the Tigray Region, which the government called illegal. In November 2020, the Tigray War began between the Ethiopian and Tigray governments and their respective military and paramilitary allies. The war caused civilian casualties and displaced thousands of people.

Background Abiy began his political career as head of housing and urban development in Oromia. He then became a central-committee member of the Oromo Democratic Party (ODP), and was elected to the House of Peoples' Representatives for the Agaro constituency. At this time, Abiy began a Religious Finance Forum in response to growing tensions between Christians and Muslims. He then became a member of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).

After serving for one year, Abiy was reinstated as an ODP central-committee member. In late 2016, he was appointed deputy president of the Oromia Region while serving in the House of People's Representatives. Abiy became head of the ODP Secretariat and the Oromia Housing and Urban Development Office, and was elected to the executive committee of the EPRDF in early 2018. The 2016 Oromo protests led ODP party leader Lemma Megersa to support the call for reform in the ODP from Ethiopians abroad. In mid-February 2018, the party invited opposition-party members to Ethiopia to survey the democratic system in Oromia and Ethiopia at large.

The ruling EPRDF elected Abiy chair and, in turn, prime minister. The party elected him on March 20, 2018, after an in-depth review of the executive committee's performance and renewal program. Shiferaw Shigute, a head officer of the EPRDF, announced at a press conference that the council's meeting was successful; "heated debates were entertained and agreements reached to [widen] internal democracy within the party, tackling unprincipled networks and antidemocratic attitudes." Shiferaw said that Abiy's election was "democratic and transparent", with "all members [casting] their votes confidently." The meeting was held to prevent the distrust and skepticism which the party had faced with past leadership.

According to the secretary, there were no secret negotiations about the appointment; the party's rules and norms were respected. Shiferaw said that the withdrawal of Demeke Mekonnen had no direct correlation with the election, and a future reshuffle based on an evaluation by the EPRDF cabinet would be possible.

On April 2, 2018, Abiy was sworn in as prime minister of Ethiopia in the House of Federation and promised to "build peaceful diplomatic relations with Eritrea, to work for inclusive development, combatting corruption in the democratic environment." He pledged to work with women and youth and end the civil unrest which began in 2016.

Domestic policy Abiy's government released many political prisoners jailed by former EPRDF rulers, including activist Kinfe Michael Debebe, Ginbot 7 leader Andargachew Tsige and his colleague Berhanu Nega, and Oromo dissident and public intellectual Jawar Mohammed. Most of the remaining detainees were journalists from the US-based ESAT and OMN satellite television networks. On May 30, 2018, Abiy's surprise meeting with Andargachew (released after four years on death row) was called "unprecedented and previously unimaginable". He had been apprehended at Sana'a International Airport in Yemen in 2014 and extradited to Ethiopia.

The government amended the country's "draconian" anti-terrorism law that day, which was widely perceived as a tool of political repression. Abiy hinted at abolishing the law, which had "led to the detention and persecution of thousands in the East African country." On June 1, 2018, he announced the end of the state of emergency which had been imposed two years before; it was lifted on June 4. Abiy countered criticism of his government's release of convicted "terrorists", which (according to the opposition) is a label the EPRDF gives to the opposition. He said that policies which sanctioned arbitrary detention and torture were extra-constitutional acts of terror aimed at suppressing opposition. Three hundred four prisoners (289 convicted of terrorism charges) were pardoned on June 15. According to the Ethiopian attorney general, three Kenyan prisoners were pardoned and released after a bilateral agreement was signed between Ethiopia and Kenya to strengthen relations. By that time, one thousand prisoners had been pardoned.

According to the pro-government website Tigrai Online, the maintenance of a state of emergency was vital and Abiy was "doing too much too fast". Other critics expressed concern that the release of thousands of political prisoners would reduce faith in Ethiopia's criminal-justice system if they constituted a danger. On June 13, the TPLF executive committee denounced the handover of Badme due to the Algiers Agreement and criticized the privatization of state-owned enterprises; the committee said that the ruling coalition failed to account for a fundamental leadership deficit.

Abune Merkorios, the fourth patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, returned to Ethiopia on August 1, 2018, after being exiled to the United States in 1991 and was warmly received at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Addis Ababa. Abiy said that "the return of the Abune Merkorios is a joyous moment for all Ethiopians. The church has shown in deeds the fall of a wall of division that had split the church."

Transparency Abiy has called for exiled journalists, particularly from ESAT, to return to Ethiopia; ESAT had called for the genocide of Ethiopian Tigrayans. By March 21, 2019, Abiy had only given one press conference and refused questions from journalists.

According to Human Rights Watch, the Committee to Protect Journalists and Amnesty International, the Abiy government has arrested opposition journalists and closed media outlets except for ESAT. His government suspended the press license of Reuters's correspondent, and issued a written warning to correspondents from the BBC and Deutsche Welle for what it called a "violation of the rules of media broadcasting". At the UNESCO World Press Prize ceremony on May 3, 2019, Abiy said that he would establish a "truly democratic political order and transform the media landscape" while avoiding misinformation.

Ethiopia's freedom of the press declined in 2021, when 46 journalists were reportedly detained or repressed by the government. Journalist Gobez Sisay disappeared in 2022.

Economic reforms

In June 2018, Abiy announced the reform of state-owned enterprises in a number of economic sectors, such as telecommunications, energy, and transportation. He hoped to end unemployment through privatization and increasing foreign direct investment. State monopolies include Ethiopian Airlines and Ethio Telecom, of interest to private investors with shares sold from the aviation, electricity, and logistics sectors.

Ethiopian Airlines, Africa's largest and most profitable carrier, was offered for purchase by domestic and foreign investors; maintaining the majority of shares, the government planned to privatize it. State-owned enterprises in less critical sectors, including railway operators, sugar farms, industrial parks, hotels and manufacturing firms, may be fully privatized. The move was seen as a pragmatic measure after a poor fiscal year resulting in $3.2 billion in foreign reserves, less than two months' worth of imports.

In June 2018, Abiy initiated a stock exchange; until 2015, Ethiopia had the fastest economic growth of any country without a stock exchange. In June 2020, the finance minister drafted a bill to create a stock-market economy which was passed on December 22 of that year.

Security reforms Abiy spoke to Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF) senior commanders in June 2018 about reforming the military, effectively limiting their role in politics. Amnesty International asked and other international human-rights groups asked Ethiopia to dissolve the regional paramilitary force known as the Liyyu force.

Abiy hoped to move the Ethiopian Navy into active duty so the landlocked country could join other naval forces, saying on state television: "We should build our naval-force capacity in the future." He reshuffled the armed forces on June 7, 2018, replacing Chief of Staff Samora Yunis with Lieutenant General Se'are Mekonnen, National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) director Getachew Assefa with General Adem Mohammed, and National Security Advisor and former army chief Abadula Gemeda with Sebhat Nega. A chief co-founder of the TPLF, Sebhat had announced his retirement the previous month.

Internet shutdowns Abiy has said that his government would shut down the Internet as needed: "It's neither water nor air".

Cabinet reshuffle

On October 16, 2018, Abiy reduced his cabinet from 28 to 20 ministers during a parliamentary session. Half were women, which was unprecedented. His new cabinet contained Sahle-Work Zewde as the first female president, Aisha Mohammed Musa as Minister of Defense and Muferiat Kamil as Minister of Peace, with oversight of intelligence and security agencies. Writer and activist Billene Seyoum was the first press secretary of the Office of the Prime Minister.

Party reform The EPRDF administration consisted of four parties, most represented by ethnic groups: the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), the Oromo People Democratic Organization (OPDO), the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM), and the Southern Ethiopian People's Democratic Movement (SEPDM). On November 21, 2019, Abiy formed the Prosperity Party by merging the following parties: the Oromo Democratic Party (ODP), the Southern Ethiopian People's Democratic Movement (SEPDM), the Amhara Democratic Party (ADP), the Harari National League (HNL), the Ethiopian Somali People's Democratic Party (ESPDP), the Afar National Democratic Party (ANDP), the Gambella People's Unity Party (GPUP), and the Benishangul Gumuz People's Democratic Party (BGPDP)

Abiy said that the "Prosperity Party is committed to strengthening and applying a true federal system which recognizes the diversity and contributions of all Ethiopians".

Foreign policy