Ethiopia's National Dialogue Can Serve as Exemplary Model for Africa: PM Abiy

Addis Ababa, July 15, 2026 (ENA) —The Ethiopian National Dialogue Conference, which is monumental in scope, process, duration, and potentially in the results it will yield, can serve in many ways as an exemplary model for Africa, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said today.

Opening the conference, the PM described the dialogue as an all-inclusive platform in scope, process, duration, and potential impact.

“This conference is a comprehensive platform for discussion, consultation, and discourse that is truly unique in Ethiopia's modern history. It is monumental in scope, process, duration, and potentially in the results it will yield; it is an undertaking of immense significance that can in many ways serve as a powerful example for the rest of Africa,” he noted.

 

He warned that failing to seize such opportunities risks writing a harmful history marked by division rather than development.

Citing the ancient Chinese military general, strategist, and philosopher Sun Tzu as saying that opportunities multiply as they are seized, the premier added that his government has used the reform years to carry out political, economic, and military reforms and improve the country’s trajectory.

PM Abiy defended the four-year national dialogue which involved hundreds of thousands of inhabitants and the Ethiopian diaspora as inclusive rather than elitist.

He further attributed Ethiopia’s loss of access to the Red Sea to internal weaknesses rather than any force strong enough to stop the country's rightful interests.

 

The premier warned against what he called “vultures hovering in Ethiopian skies” trying to take advantage of national disagreements, stressing that Ethiopian citizens should choose how interests are shared and resist coercion.

He said Ethiopia’s resilience is rooted in longstanding traditions of arbitration, dialogue, forgiveness, and compensation, and argued that anchoring the consultation in that heritage will endure for decades.

The Warka tree (sycamore tree) is a symbol of Ethiopia’s culture of reconciliation, PM Abiy, stated, explaining that it is where disputes are settled, teachings are given, families gather, and communities preserve history under the shade.

Cutting down the Warka tree symbolically represents shrinking consultation and growing intolerance in Ethiopia, he noted.

 

The PM invoked proverbs from multiple communities to urge participants to consult for the sake of Ethiopia rather than their own groups, arguing that understanding grievances requires listening and engagement across communities.

He finally noted that the forum carries responsibility not only for today’s population but also for future generations.