Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed smiles before a High Level Consultation Meeting with African leaders on DR Congo election at AU headquarters in Addis Ababa, January 17, 2019. — AFP pic
More recently he has turned to fleshing out his vision for the economy while laying the groundwork for elections currently scheduled to take place next May. Tareq Sabt, a businessman and friend of Abiy’s, says one of the first things that struck him when they met was the prime minister’s drive: “I always said to friends, when this guy comes to power, you’ll see a lot of change in Ethiopia.”Born in the western town of Beshasha to a Muslim father and Christian mother, Abiy “grew up sleeping on the floor” in a house that lacked electricity and running water.
He then became a minister in the capital Addis Ababa, and a party official in his home region of Oromia.The circumstances that led to Abiy’s ascent to high office can be traced to late 2015. When then-prime minister Hailemariam Desalegn abruptly resigned, many feared a power-struggle within the EPRDF, or even an unravelling of the coalition that would leave a dangerous vacuum.“He’s the only one that could have saved the EPRDF,” said Mohammed Ademo, a journalist who accompanied Abiy on his first visit to the large Ethiopian diaspora community in the United States last year.
The immediate demands of Ethiopian politics may leave Abiy with no choice but to shift his focus inward in the months to come.