Category: Ethiopia

Will Abiy Ahmed usher in a new Ethiopia?

     

One year after the inauguration of Abiy Ahmed as Prime Minister, Ethiopia continues to be the world’s most exciting democratic breakthrough. Since his appointment, Prime Minister Abiy has initiated a… Read more »

Ethiopia’s transition: ‘change at the top is not enough’

     

It has been a whirlwind year for Ethiopia since Abiy Ahmed became prime minister, say analysts Ahmed Soliman and Abel Abate Demissie. He has initiated a raft of reforms to… Read more »

‘Between hope and fear’? Ethiopia’s democratic breakthrough

     

One year after the inauguration of Abiy Ahmed as Prime Minister, Ethiopia continues to be the world’s most exciting democratic breakthrough. Since his appointment, Prime Minister Abiy has initiated a… Read more »

Nigeria’s flawed poll, corruption, state capture… Africa’s uneven democratic performance

     

Africa’s citizens demand democracy but do not think they are getting it, observers suggest. Afrobarometer [a partner of the National Endowment for Democracy] describes this sub-category as “dissatisfied democrats.” According… Read more »

Human rights advocate killed in Ethiopian Airlines crash

     

  Democracy and human rights advocates are mourning the loss of Josefin Ekermann from the East Africa Regional Office of Civil Rights Defenders, the Stockholm-based  international human rights group. Three Austrian physicians. The… Read more »

Ethiopia: reform needs assistance to overcome ‘stiff resistance’

     

After more than two years of protests, power changed hands in Ethiopia last April. Under the new Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia is shedding its reputation as a country that… Read more »

Will Ethiopia’s liberalization spin out of control?

     

Ethiopian premier Abiy Ahmed’s first 10 months in office have been remarkable by the yardstick of any leader around the world. In that time, he has overseen the swiftest political… Read more »

African democracy in retreat: autocratic threat growing

     

African democracy is in for a bumpy 2019, with the continent’s political trajectory moving in the wrong direction, according to analysts Nic Cheeseman and Jeffrey Smith. In Tanzania, President John Magufuli has clamped down on… Read more »

Reform and renewal: democracy staging a comeback?

     

By almost any measure, 2018 has been a disastrous year for democracy, notes analyst Frida Ghitis. Authoritarian leaders have made decisive moves to tighten their grip on power by eroding practices indispensable… Read more »