ECADF | ADDIS ABABA/WASHINGTON — Editor’s note: Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed gave his first interview in Amharic to a Western news organization when he spoke to the Voice of America’s Horn of Africa service reporter Eskinder Firew, Monday, May 27, in Addis Ababa. These highlights from their conversation have been edited for brevity and clarity.
(VOA) — For the past year, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has led Ethiopia through dramatic changes. Entrenched ethnic tensions and complex regional conflicts have posed ongoing challenges to the young leader’s reform agenda, but he remains resolute in his desire to make the most of his time in office. Abiy spoke to VOA’s Eskinder Firew about Ethiopia’s relationship with neighbor Eritrea, judicial reforms and the imprint he hopes to leave.