About

Adanech Abiebie

City Mayor of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Mrs Adanech Abebe is an Ethiopian politician and attorney who is serving as the Mayor of Addis Ababa. She was Deputy Mayor from 2020 to 2021. She is the first woman to hold the mayorship since it was created in 1910. She completed undergraduate studies in law at the Ethiopian Civil Service University in 2001 and completed a graduate programme in leadership at Greenwich University in the United Kingdom. She started her career as an elementary school teacher before becoming the school’s administrative director. In 2001 she served as attorney of the Oromia Justice Bureau.

In the 2005 general election she won a seat in the House of People’s Representatives Aseko constituency. Then, she took a Director position at the Oromia Development Association (ODA), where she served for five years. In this position she reformed the status of the association and became the mayor of Adama. She was the first female in the position and embarked on significant changes during her administration, including the reduction of corruption within the city. While serving as Minister of the Revenue and Customs Authority from 2018 to 2020 she reinstated corruption and bribery investigations. She was then appointed as Federal Attorney General of Ethiopia under the premiership of Abiy Ahmed in March 2020. In August 2020 she was appointed Deputy Mayor of Addis Ababa. In September 2021 she was elected Mayor of the city.