Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed Ali

The Ethiopian Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed has won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize.

Abiy was awarded the prize for his efforts to “achieve peace and international cooperation”.

This is in relations to a recent peace deal between Ethiopia and Eritrea, which ended a 20-year military stalemate following their 1998-2000 border war.

He was named as the winner of the 100th Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo today.

The prize, worth $900,000 will be awarded in Oslo in December.

A total of 301 candidates had been nominated for the prestigious award, including 223 individuals and 78 organizations.

Abiy became the Prime Minister of Ethiopia in April 2018 after the resignation of Hailemariam Desalegn.

He is accredited for introducing massive reforms to Ethiopia.

He freed thousands of opposition activists from jail and allowed exiled dissidents to return home.

Abiy signed a peace deal with neighbouring Eritrea, ending a two-decade conflict.

He also appointed the first woman President in Ethiopia.

In the region, Abiy initiated the first face to face dialogue between President Salva Kiir and Dr. Riek Machar after the 2016 violence.

He is accredited of enabling Kiir and Machar to renegotiate the 2015 peace deal, resulting into the signing of the revitalized peace agreement in 2018 in Khartoum.

In Sudan, following months of protest, Dr. Abiy mediated talks between the Sudanese Military Council and the civilian protestors following months of unrest that led to the overthrow of President Omar al Bashir.

Brian Paul Klaas, an Assistant Professor in Global Politics at University College London says this is a deserved win for the young Prime Minister.

“This is a recognition of what the noble peace price was originally intended to do, to say; we want to reduce war, we ought to reduce conflict, and that is what this award is all about today” he remarked.