Ethiopia abuzz at sweeping changes by young new leader

ADDIS ABABA: These are not ordinary times in Ethiopia. Sweeping changes that seemed unthinkable just weeks ago have been announced almost daily since a new prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, Africa’s youngest head of government, took office and vowed to bring months of deadly protests to an end.

From the surprise acceptance of a peace agreement with rival Eritrea, to the opening of major stateowned sectors to private investment, plus the release of thousands of prisoners including opposition figures once sentenced to death, Abiy, 41, has kept Africa’s secondmost populous country buzzing.

“The people have the full right to criticise its servants, to elect them, and to interrogate them. Government is a servant of the people,” he said in his inaugural speech in early April. It was unusual talk considering his military background, and he quickly found enthusiastic crowds as he toured the country.

Abiy has been called “Prime Minister Bolt” for the sprinter-like pace of reforms. Some say it’s hardly possible to comprehend a single day’s events.

On Tuesday alone, parliament kicked off by lifting the state of emergency imposed in response to the protests demanding greater freedoms that began more than two years ago. It marked the most dramatic change yet under Abiy’s rule.

By nightfall there was bigger news: the prospect of peace with Eritrea after two decades of border skirmishes and a two-year war.

Almost as an afterthought came word that Ethiopia, one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, was opening state-owned enterprises in aviation, telecoms and more to foreign investment or privatisation. That opens the door for stakes in globally successful Ethiopian Airlines and Africa’s largest telecom company by subscribers, Ethio Telecom.

The new prime minister has dined with opposition leaders, named new army and intelligence chiefs and suggested that his own position should have term limits.

He “can’t change every individual’s life, but he is setting up the ground for changes to happen and create a national consensus among all Ethiopians,” said Seyoum Teshome, a prominent blogger who was arrested twice under the state of emergency. – Ap/african News Agency (ANA)