Ethiopia is in the focus of international public attention: Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed Ali, who has been in power since April 2018, was awarded the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize on 10 December for the democratisation of the Horn of African country as well as for its rapprochement with its neighbour Eritrea.

However, Abiy is under strong pressure at home, as the fruits of the reform policy have not yet reached large parts of the population. There is a great deal of catching up to do in the country’s industrialisation and in investments designed to create urgently needed jobs, especially for young people. The volatile security situation in the country, which is characterised by strong ethnic tensions, calls into question the feasibility of the elections planned for May 2020. How these elections will be conducted in addition to their outcome, will be central for Abiy and the continuation of his inclusive democratization and reform course, or what he has labelled as medemer (roughly translated as  ‘synergy’).