Abiy Ahmed, Prime Minister of Ethiopia (since Apr 2, 2018)
Born on 15 August 1976, Abiy Ahmed is an Ethiopian politician serving as the 15th and current Prime Minister of Ethiopia since 2 April 2018. He is chairman of both the ruling EPRDF (Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front) and the ODP (Oromo Democratic Party), which is one of the four coalition parties of the EPRDF. Abiy is also an elected member of the Ethiopian parliament, and a member of the ODP and EPRDF executive committees.
A former army intelligence officer, since becoming Prime Minister, Abiy has launched a wide programme of political and economic reforms.
Abiy is married and met his wife, Zinash Tayachew, an Amhara woman from Gondar, while both were serving in the Ethiopian Defense Forces. They have three daughters together. Abiy is multilingual and speaks Afaan Oromo, Amharic, Tigrinya, and English. He is a fitness aficionado and professes that physical health goes hand in hand with mental health and as such, he frequents physical and gym activities in Addis Ababa.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abiy_Ahmed
Hailemariam Desalegn, Former Prime Minister of Ethiopia
Hailemariam Desalegn Boshe (born 19 July 1965) is an Ethiopian politician who currently serves as Prime Minister of Ethiopia. He previously served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs under Prime Minister Meles Zenawi from 2010 to 2012. After Meles’ death in August 2012, Hailemariam succeeded him as Prime Minister, initially in an acting capacity. He was then elected as the Chair of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), the ruling party, on 15 September 2012. Hailemariam also served as the Chairperson of the African Union from 2013 to 2014.
Hailemariam was born in 1965 in the Boloso Sore District of the Wolayita Zone in southern Ethiopia. Hailemariam is of the Wolayta ethnic group of Ethiopia, the second largest in Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People’s Region (SNNPR). His family belongs to the Apostolic Church of Ethiopia, a Oneness Pentecostal denomination that is not part of the mainstream Ethiopian Protestant Christianity (Pentay), which believes in Trinitarianism.
In 1988, Hailemariam received a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Addis Ababa University. He subsequently worked as a graduate assistant in the Arba Minch Water Technology Institute (now Arba Minch University). After two years of working in this capacity, he won a scholarship to Tampere University of Technology in Finland, where he earned a master’s degree in sanitation engineering. Upon his return to Ethiopia, he served in different academic and administrative capacities, including the dean of the Water Technology Institute, for 13 years. In between, he also earned an MA in Organizational Leadership at Azusa Pacific University, California, US.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hailemariam_Desalegn
Girme Wolde Giorgis, President of Ethiopia
Born in 1917* in Addis Ababa, Girme Wolde Giorgis attended the church school and later joined the Teferi Mekonnen School in Addis Ababa in 1926 where he followed his education until the Italian invasion. Between 1930-1933, he studied at an Italian school “The scuola Principe Piemonte” in Addis Ababa. Between 1942 and 1944, he received certificates in Management (in Holland), in Air Traffic Management (in Sweden) and Air Traffic Control (in Canada) under a training programme sponsored by the International Civil Aviation Organization.
Government Experience
in 1933 he was enlisted at the Ethiopian Military Radio Communication set up by U.K.
in 1936 graduated from the Genet Military School as a Sub-Lieutenant
joined the Air Force in 1938 and took various Air Management courses
became assistant teacher in Air Navigation and Flight Control in 1940
became head of Civil Aviation of the Federal Government of Eritrea in 1947
assumed the post of Director General of the Ethiopian Civil Aviation in 1949 and was Board member of the Ethiopian Airlines during the same period.
became Director General of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Planning at the time of establishment in 1951
became member of parliament in 1953
was elected president of the parliament for three consecutive years.
helped win a seat for the Ethiopian Parliament in the International Parliamentary Union and attended conferences of the IPU in Switzerland, Denmark and former Yugoslavia and was elected as Vice President of the 52nd Meeting of the International Parliamentary Union.
represented the business community in the Civil consultative Commission set-up by the Dergue until it was dissolved in 1967.
served as Manager of the Import and Export Enterprise (IMPEX).
served as deputy Commissioner of the Peace Programme drawn up in 1969 by the provisional military government to settle the Eritrean problem peacefully.
became member of the Council of Peoples Representatives of FDRE after winning in the Becho Woreda constituency, West Shoa Zone of Oromia State, as a private candidate in the second round elections in 1992.
Non-Government Experience 1957 – 1966
Board member of the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce
Representative for Australian Trade Mission in Ethiopia
Founder and Director of the Ghibe Agricultural Association
Founder and Director of the Keffa and Illubabor Timber Processing Industry
While in Eritrea before 1982
President of the Ethiopian Red Cross Society- Eritrea Branch
Board President of Cheshire Home
Managing Director of Leprosy Control Organization
Up on returning to Ethiopia from Eritrea in 1982, he served as Board Member of the Ethiopian Red Cross Society and Head of its International Logistics Department.
Launched an environmental protection association called ‘Lem Ethiopia’ in 1983 to date serving as Vice President of the Board of the Association.
The President of Ethiopia speaks Oromiffa, Amharic, Tigrigna, Italian, English and French.
He is married with five children
* All years are in the Ethiopian Calendar.
