Facing mounting security and economic challenges, will Abiy Ahmed democratise Ethiopia or take advantage of its vulnerabilities to become the next strongman?

Thomas Jefferson should have known about Ethiopia.  That was what the late, great Pan-Africanist scholar Ali Mazrui suggested in his keynote address to a conference held at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, in 2007.  I assisted Mazrui with research for that address and was honoured to travel with him to Ithaca and listen to his presentation as he reflected on Ethiopia with characteristic imagination and historical sensitivity.  

The author analyses the implications of the on-going reforms by the reformist Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed not only in Ethiopia, but also in the entire Eastern African region and the whole continent of Africa in general. 

This is incredible news of unprecedented magnitude: Dr. Abiy Ahmed, the reformist Prime Minister of Ethiopia has done the unimaginable and appointed 50 percent of his new cabinet as women, including the Ministry of Defence.  If this is not revolutionary, I do not know what it is.  

Another agreement between Ethiopia and Eritrea that was signed in Jedda, Saudi Arabia on 16 September 2018 represents a new page in the shifting political alignments in this area of East Africa. Despite on-going negotiations and agreements, imperialist military forces are set to remain in the Horn of Africa region.