Country Profile

Since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed swept to power in 2018 promising far-reaching governance reforms, first COVID-19 and then the war in Tigray has ravaged the country. With the recent cessation of hostilities agreement brokered with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front in November 2022, Abiy has immediately turned his attention to curbing corruption in the country, which he has castigated as a “pest” eating away at the country.

A newly established National Anti-Corruption Committee has already launched a crackdown on government officials alleged to be implicated in corrupt schemes. It remains to be seen how this anti-corruption purge plays out against the backdrop of the fragile peace settlement and Ethiopia’s complex ethnic and politicised regional divisions.

This has the potential to be particularly sensitive given the record of previous administrations of using anti-corruption crackdowns as an instrument to curb the influence of political factions and regional authorities perceived to be disloyal to the central government.