Fortune has smiled on Abiy Ahmed. When Ethiopia’s prime minister was a boy his mother prophesied(预言) that he would become a king. As a thrusting(积极进取的) cadre(核心干部) of the ruling party, he told colleagues he would one day be their boss. They made him Africa’s youngest leader in 2018. He promised allies that he would make peace with Eritrea, a country to the north that had been part of Ethiopia until 1993—and win a Nobel prize for it. He was proved right within 18 months of taking office.
命运眷顾了阿比·艾哈迈德。当这位埃塞俄比亚总理还是孩子时，他的母亲预言他会成为国王。作为执政党中积极进取的干部，他告诉同事自己有朝一日会成为他们的老板。2018年，他们让他成为非洲最年轻的领导人。他向盟友承诺，将与北方的厄立特里亚（该国在1993年前曾是埃塞俄比亚的一部分）实现和平，并为此赢得诺贝尔奖。上任18个月内，他的预言就应验了。
Such chutzpah(胆大妄为) is typical of Mr Abiy, who is up for re-election on June 1st. He wants to create a rich, powerful Ethiopia that occupies what he considers its rightful place(应有的地位) as the dominant power in the Horn of Africa. Naturally, he expects to be in charge. In the past eight years he has opened up the economy; demolished and rebuilt much of Addis Ababa, the capital; unveiled Africa’s largest dam; and broken ground on what is set to be its biggest airport. The IMF says Ethiopia’s economy will grow faster in 2026 than that of any other non-oil producer.
这种胆大妄为是阿比的典型作风，他将在6月1日寻求连任。他想创造一个富裕强大的埃塞俄比亚，占据他眼中正当的非洲之角主导力量的地位。自然，他期望自己掌控一切。过去八年里，他开放经济、拆除并重建了首都亚的斯亚贝巴大部分地区、揭幕了非洲最大的大坝，并破土动工了将成为非洲最大机场的项目。国际货币基金组织表示，2026年埃塞俄比亚的经济增速将超过其他任何非产油国。
Those are all good reasons to pay Mr Abiy attention. Yet there is another, more alarming one: the uncompromising(不妥协的) prime minister also risks tearing Ethiopia apart, and could inflict(施加（痛苦等）) great pain on the Horn of Africa.
这些都是关注阿比先生的充分理由。但还有另一个更令人担忧的原因：这位不妥协的总理也有可能让埃塞俄比亚分裂，并给非洲之角带来巨大痛苦。