Abiy Ahmed wins Nobel peace prize

Recognised, honoured for his peace reforms

ETHIOPIAN Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2019 yesterday in recognition of his efforts to end his country’s twodecade border conflict with Eritrea.

The Norwegian Nobel Institute also praised the “important reforms” that Ahmed, Ethiopia’s leader since April 2018, has launched at home.

The Nobel committee said some people may consider it too early to give him the prize, but “it is now that Ahmed’s efforts need recognition and deserve encouragement”. The award reflects the committee’s taste for trying to encourage works in progress.

“We are proud as a nation!!!” the prime minister’s office said in a tweet.

Nobel Institute director Olav Njoelstad said he had been in touch by a phone call with Ahmed, who “showed great humility and was overwhelmed”.

Ahmed, 43, took office after widespread protests pressured the ruling coalition.

Africa’s youngest leader quickly announced dramatic reforms.

He surprised many people by fully accepting a peace deal, ending a 20-year border war between the two East African nations that saw tens of thousands of people killed.

The improving relations led to the lifting of UN sanctions on Eritrea, one of the world’s most reclusive nations. The Nobel committee also pointed to Ahmed’s other efforts toward reconciliation in the region – between Eritrea and Djibouti, between Kenya and Somalia, and in Sudan.

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa congratulated Ahmed, saying this award focuses global attention on Africa’s relentless progress towards peace and stability.

“The peace achieved between these neighbouring states is an important enabler of the African Continental Free Trade Area and of the many objectives of the AU’s Agenda 2063.

“We all share in Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s achievement and in the future of co-operation and good neighbourliness on which the peoples of Ethiopia and Eritrea have embarked,” Ramaphosa said.

Abiy Ahmed