African Arguments

Top Menu

  • About Us
    • Our philosophy
  • Write for us
  • Contact us
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter
  • RSS feed
  • Donate
  • Fellowship

Main Menu

  • Home
  • Country
    • Central
      • Cameroon
      • Central African Republic
      • Chad
      • Congo-Brazzaville
      • Congo-Kinshasa
      • Equatorial Guinea
      • Gabon
    • East
      • Burundi
      • Comoros
      • Dijbouti
      • Eritrea
      • Ethiopia
      • Kenya
      • Rwanda
      • Seychelles
      • Somalia
      • Somaliland
      • South Sudan
      • Sudan
      • Tanzania
      • Uganda
      • Red Sea
    • North
      • Algeria
      • Egypt
      • Libya
      • Morocco
      • Tunisia
      • Western Sahara
    • Southern
      • Angola
      • Botswana
      • eSwatini
      • Lesotho
      • Madagascar
      • Malawi
      • Mauritius
      • Mozambique
      • Namibia
      • South Africa
      • Zambia
      • Zimbabwe
    • West
      • Benin
      • Burkina Faso
      • Cape Verde
      • Côte d’Ivoire
      • The Gambia
      • Ghana
      • Guinea
      • Guinea Bissau
      • Liberia
      • Mali
      • Mauritania
      • Niger
      • Nigeria
      • São Tomé and Príncipe
      • Senegal
      • Sierra Leone
      • Togo
  • Climate
  • Politics
    • Elections Map
  • Economy
  • Society
  • Culture
  • Specials
    • From the fellows
    • Radical Activism in Africa
    • On Food Security & COVID19
    • Think African [Podcast]
    • #EndSARS
    • Into Africa [Podcast]
    • Covid-19
    • Travelling While African
    • From the wit-hole countries…
    • Living in Translation
    • Africa Science Focus [Podcast]
    • Red Sea
    • Beautiful Game
  • Debating Ideas
  • About Us
    • Our philosophy
  • Write for us
  • Contact us
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter
  • RSS feed
  • Donate
  • Fellowship

logo

African Arguments

  • Home
  • Country
    • Central
      • Cameroon
      • Central African Republic
      • Chad
      • Congo-Brazzaville
      • Congo-Kinshasa
      • Equatorial Guinea
      • Gabon
    • East
      • Burundi
      • Comoros
      • Dijbouti
      • Eritrea
      • Ethiopia
      • Kenya
      • Rwanda
      • Seychelles
      • Somalia
      • Somaliland
      • South Sudan
      • Sudan
      • Tanzania
      • Uganda
      • Red Sea
    • North
      • Algeria
      • Egypt
      • Libya
      • Morocco
      • Tunisia
      • Western Sahara
    • Southern
      • Angola
      • Botswana
      • eSwatini
      • Lesotho
      • Madagascar
      • Malawi
      • Mauritius
      • Mozambique
      • Namibia
      • South Africa
      • Zambia
      • Zimbabwe
    • West
      • Benin
      • Burkina Faso
      • Cape Verde
      • Côte d’Ivoire
      • The Gambia
      • Ghana
      • Guinea
      • Guinea Bissau
      • Liberia
      • Mali
      • Mauritania
      • Niger
      • Nigeria
      • São Tomé and Príncipe
      • Senegal
      • Sierra Leone
      • Togo
  • Climate
  • Politics
    • Elections Map
  • Economy
  • Society
  • Culture
  • Specials
    • From the fellows
    • Radical Activism in Africa
    • On Food Security & COVID19
    • Think African [Podcast]
    • #EndSARS
    • Into Africa [Podcast]
    • Covid-19
    • Travelling While African
    • From the wit-hole countries…
    • Living in Translation
    • Africa Science Focus [Podcast]
    • Red Sea
    • Beautiful Game
  • Debating Ideas
Africa InsidersEthiopia
Home›African Arguments›Africa Insiders›Africa Insiders: Is Abiy Ahmed’s Nobel Peace Prize premature?

Africa Insiders: Is Abiy Ahmed’s Nobel Peace Prize premature?

By Africa Insiders
October 16, 2019
2711
0
img-1
img-2

H.E. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed at the African Union. Credit: Office of the Prime Minister – Ethiopia

The essentials: Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the world’s most prestigious award for those who have “done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.”

The context: Abiy Ahmed, assumed the office of Prime Minister, Ethiopia‘s most powerful political job, in April 2018. At that point, the country had experienced months of widespread unrest and protests with thousands of people hurt or killed. At the core of the tensions was the critique of Ethiopia’s largest ethnic groups, the Oromo and Amhara, of the dominance of Tigray people in the country’s politics, economy and military.

Ahmed, son of an Oromo father and an Amhara mother, member of the ruling party and former intelligence officer, quickly embarked on a rapid program of domestic and foreign policy reform. He freed thousands of political prisoners and broadened the space for public debate, resulting in a jump of 40 places in the Press Freedom Index. After meeting several times with representatives of Eritrea, Ahmed and his Eritrean counterpart President Afwerki formally ended the state of war between the two countries, which had lasted since the outbreak of a border conflict in 1998. Ahmed’s administration also reestablished some economic and communication links with Eritrea, leading to the reunion of thousands of people after decades of isolation.

In awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to Ahmed, the committee has also continued to focus on African peacemakers: Including Ahmed, five of the last 15 laureates are African. Ahmed joins Congolese gynecologist Denis Mukwege (2018), the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet (2015) and the Liberian peace activists and politicians Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Leymah Gbowee (2011). 

The good: Ahmed is certainly a hopeful figure on a continent where recently heads of state and government have concentrated more on extending their constitutional term limits, instead of announcing bold political reforms. Together with other initiatives like the Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership, high profile awards like this might indeed shape the culture of leadership across Africa to a certain extent.

The bad: Ahmed’s award unfortunately also showcases another tendency of the Nobel Prize committee: doling out premature praise. While Ahmed’s political vigour and rhetoric have been impressive, he has only been in power for a good year and most of his initiatives have not had time to demonstrate longevity yet. Peace with Eritrea is tenuous and the dialogue between the leadership of both countries has died down in recent months. While the state of war has ended, much of the announced and expected economic peace dividend has yet to materialize, because the land borders remain closed. 

Abiy’s domestic reforms are certainly welcome, but Ethiopia has also experienced high levels of ethnic conflict in the southern part of the country under his watch. And if he is indeed ready to face a democratic process will only be proven next year, when Ethiopia will vote for a new parliament.

The verdict: One can not escape the feeling that the prize committee would have done both itself and Ahmed a favor by waiting for another few years before considering him. By awarding him the Nobel Peace Prize now, before Ahmed’s reforms have had a chance to fully bear fruit, the committee has put a lot of pressure on Ahmed, who does not have complete control over the success of his domestic and foreign agendas. And while we remain hopeful of Ahmed’s intentions and probability of success in reshaping Ethiopia’s political landscape, he wouldn’t be the first reformer to be overcome by his ambitions.

  • Announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize committee
  • Audio: Abiy Ahmed’s first reaction (Nobel Prize)
  • Why I nominated Abiy Ahmed for the Nobel Peace Prize (Al Jazeera)
  • Nobel Peace Prize: Ethiopia PM Abiy Ahmed wins (BBC)
  • Abiy’s Nobel Achievements Are Real but Brittle (Foreign Policy)
  • Was the Nobel Peace Prize for Ethiopia’s prime minister premature? (Global Voices)
  • Opinion: Nobel Peace Prize for Abiy Ahmed a misguided decision (DW)

Discuss with @PeterDoerrie on Twitter


Pay what you want for the FULL Africa Insiders Newsletter!

We hope you enjoyed this Free Edition of the Africa Insiders, but is only a taste of the full experience. This week, the Full Edition also covered:

  • What we are talking about: Kenya Unlimited: Kipchoge, Kosgei make sporting history
  • Continental health corner: A fully funded Global Fund 
  • Conflict focus: Another deadly attack in Burkina Faso 
  • Links of the week: Everything Africa-related that is worth your time and attention

To upgrade, email [email protected], telling us the price you’d like to pay.

Yes, you decide the price as long as it’s at least $2 per month to cover the transaction costs.

If you are unsure what to pay, we recommend $10, but it’s up to you and we won’t judge. If you give more ($15/month, $50/month, $100/month!), your extra donation above $10 will go into a special fund for AfricanArguments.org to commission in-depth articles by African writers and journalists that will be free to read for everyone.

Again, just email [email protected] and let us know any amount of $2 or more and you’ll get the Full Africa Insiders Newsletter for the price that feels right to YOU!


The Africa Insiders’ Newsletter is a collaboration between AfricanArguments.org and @PeterDoerrie, with contributions from @_andrew_green and @Shollytupe and assistance from Stella Nantongo. Part of the subscription revenue is funding in-depth and freely accessible reporting and analysis on African Arguments.

 

Previous Article

Africa only fights internal wars. Right? Wrong.

Next Article

Abyei: Sudan and South Sudan’s new chance ...

mm

Africa Insiders

The Africa Insiders Newsletter is a weekly newsletter brought to you by African Arguments. Written by leading journalists and analysts, it it made up of snappy, insightful updates on the major developments that have hit the week's headlines, and those that should've.

0 comments

  1. img-4
    Kwaku Ananse 17 October, 2019 at 10:34

    Should Malala Yousafzai not have received the Nobel since female education in Pakistan is still lacking?

    Should Ellen Johnson Sirleaf not have been awarded since Liberia’s economy is extremely underdeveloped?

    The Nobel Committee was very clear, the award is for “recognition and encouragement” of one’s efforts.

Leave a reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Innovative approaches to crop-livestock integration are leading the way to improved food-sufficiency in Burundi. Credit: William Moseley.
    BurundiSociety

    Is food self-sufficiency making a comeback?

  • img-6
    Politics

    Ethiopia: government increasingly intolerant of Islam risks radicalizing muslims – By Alemayehu Fentaw

  • Bobi Wine leading a protest against Uganda's new social media tax. Credit: Bobi Wine.
    PoliticsUganda

    Generation gap: What #FreeBobiWine tells us about Ugandan politics

Subscribe to our newsletter

Click here to subscribe to our free weekly newsletter and never miss a thing!

  • 81.7K+
    Followers

Find us on Facebook

Interactive Elections Map

Keep up to date with all the African elections.

Recent Posts

  • Djibouti fiddles amid the scramble for the Red Sea
  • Why France EACOP case might embolden, not discourage, activists
  • The International Community Must Reconsider its Engagement with Somaliland
  • Unpacking the geopolitics of Uganda’s anti-gay bill
  • Why’s the AfDB siding with the Agrochemical Industrial Complex?

Editor’s Picks

ClimateEditor's PicksKenyaTanzania

“My house is crumbling”: Living in limbo along the East Africa pipeline

People along the route of the proposed 1,443 km oil pipeline talk of confusion, uncertainty and lives on hold. Following the recent signing of accords, the construction of a hugely ...
  • Some amazing African documentaries, picked with help from Film Africa.

    Amazing African documentaries you’re gonna wanna see

    By Sally Zohney, James Wan, Adam Matan, Oumar Ba & Ketty Nivyabandi
    October 23, 2018
  • img-10

    How I fell in, out, and back in love with the leso

    By Idza Luhumyo
    October 14, 2019
  • Riot police take to the streets of Port Louis. Credit: Vel Moonien.

    Mauritius protests: “When people feel lost, they resort to revolt”

    By Vel Moonien
    May 26, 2022
  • one day i will learn to speak my mother tongue

    One day I will learn to speak my mother tongue

    By Nyawira Githae
    June 8, 2022

Brought to you by

img-13

Creative Commons

Creative Commons Licence
Articles on African Arguments are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
  • Cookies
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
© Copyright African Arguments 2020
By continuing to browse this site, you agree to our use of cookies.