Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in key dates

 

- August 15, 1976: He is born into a poor mixed Christian-Muslim family in the rural town of Beshasha.

 

- Early 1990s: Starts a nearly 20-year career in the military as a radio operator, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel.

 

- 2008: Establishes the government's cyber-spying Information Network Security Agency (INSA).

 

- 2010: Elected to parliament with the Oromo People's Democratic Organisation, which is part of the ruling coalition.

 

- 2016: After a brief stint as federal minister of science and technology, appointed vice president of the Oromia regional government.

 

- March 2018: Elected to lead the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front coalition.

 

- April 2018: Becomes prime minister, being the first ethnic Oromo in the post, after his predecessor resigns.

 

- June 2018: Announces Ethiopia will abide by a 2002 ruling by a UN-backed commission requiring it to cede territory to Eritrea. This launches a peace process that ends a 20-year-old stalemate.

 

- October 11, 2019: He is announced winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for ending the conflict.

 

- October 23, 2019: Protests break out denouncing Abiy after an activist claims to be the target of a security force attack plot. They turn into ethnic and religious clashes in which more than 80 people are killed.