Ethiopian Premier Abiy Wins Nobel Peace Prize for Eritrea Accord
Abiy was honored for his “efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation”.
(Bloomberg) -- Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end almost two decades of conflict with neighboring Eritrea.
Abiy was honored for his “efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and in particular for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighboring Eritrea,” the Oslo-based Norwegian Nobel Committee said in a statement Friday. It’s the second successive year the prize has gone to an African -- in 2018, Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege was the joint winner of the award for his work against sexual violence.
“It is a prize given to Africa, given to Ethiopia and I can imagine how the rest of Africa’s leaders will take it positively to work on peace-building processes in our continent,” Abiy said in an audio recording of the Nobel committee informing him of the award.
Abiy, 43, became Africa’s youngest leader when he was appointed prime minister in March 2018. He immediately set about implementing a swathe of economic and political reforms aimed at opening up the economy to increased foreign investment and freeing up the political space for opposition parties.
Three months later, he made an historic visit to the Eritrean capital, Asmara, and met President Isaias Afwerki, to close a bloody chapter in the nation’s history: a 1998-2000 border war between the two states claimed as many as 100,000 lives. The nations clashed sporadically over the ensuing years, arming rebel groups in each others’ countries.
While the rapprochement persuaded the United Nations to lift decade-old sanctions on Eritrea, there’s been scant progress since then. Four border crossings opened at the time of Abiy’s visit have since been closed without explanation. Territorial demarcations outlines by a 2002 boundary commission -- an initial condition of peace between the two countries -- remain unimplemented.
At home, Abiy’s unbanning of Ethiopian opposition and rebel groups, has stoked political fragmentation and long-suppressed rivalries among ethnic communities. That’s led regional groups to intensify calls for more self-determination.
Abiy’s changes have also faced growing opposition from anti-government groups and within the ruling party, which has factionalized under his rule. In June, attacks that claimed the lives of five senior government officials highlighted the extent of the challenges facing Abiy.
Abiy has also begun implementing measures to attract more foreign investment to Ethiopia, with plans to open up the state-controlled telecommunications and other industries to private investors. That’s piqued the interest of companies including Orange SA, MTN Group Ltd. and Vodafone Group Plc.
Ethiopia will be the fastest-growing economy in Africa this year, according to the International Monetary Fund, and globally only Bhutan, Yemen and Brunei will grow faster. The nation’s Eurobonds due December 2024 have returned 13.2% this year, more than the 13% average for sub-Saharan African sovereigns. Only Angola, Cameroon and Congo have offered better returns out of 17 nations on the continent that have sold Eurobonds.
Born on Aug. 15, 1976, in the small town of Beshasha in Ethiopia’s Oromia state, Abiy holds masters degrees in business administration and transformational leadership and a PhD in traditional conflict resolution. He’s served as a lieutenant-colonel in the Ethiopian National Defense Force, an acting director of the country’s cyber-security intelligence agency and science and technology minister.
Past laureates include former U.S. President Barack Obama and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. The peace prize, along with awards in literature, physics and medicine, was created by Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel and first awarded in 1901. The economics prize, set to be revealed on Monday, was instituted by the Swedish central bank.
--With assistance from Sveinung Sleire, Mike Cohen, Rene Vollgraaff and Robert Brand.
To contact the reporters on this story: Nizar Manek in Nairobi at nmanek2@bloomberg.net;Mikael Holter in Oslo at mholter2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jonas Bergman at jbergman@bloomberg.net, Paul Richardson, Gordon Bell
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