Sweden, Oct. 12 -- Abiy Ahmed, the Ethiopian prime minister, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2019 by the Norwegian Nobel Committee on Friday for being instrumental in achieving peace and international cooperation.

Mr Ahmed, 43, the youngest head of state in Africa, became the surprising winner owing to bringing peace between Ethiopia and Eritrea, its neighbour, after ending the protracted war, stemmed from a border dispute that lasted almost two decades.

Mr Ahmed, a former army intelligent officer, took over the reins of Ethiopia in April last year. Within a short period of time, not only did he achieve peace with Eritrea, but also introduced sweeping reforms to the nation.

By freeing thousands of opposition activists who had bee...