Adanech
Abebe

Leading Addis Ababa at a moment when the choices cities make on transport, infrastructure and public space will shape Africa’s urban future.

Adanech Abebe is the Mayor of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital and the diplomatic centre of Africa. Elected by the city council in September 2021, she is the city’s 32nd mayor and the first woman to hold the office since its establishment in 1910.

Her career spans education, law and public administration. She began as a teacher, later served as an attorney at the Oromia Justice Bureau, and went on to hold leadership roles in the Oromia Development Association and as Mayor of Adama.

At federal level, she served as Minister of Revenue and Customs and then as Ethiopia’s Federal Attorney General. She became Deputy Mayor of Addis Ababa in 2020 before being elected Mayor the following year.

She holds a Bachelor of Laws from the Ethiopian Civil Service University and completed a graduate leadership programme at the University of Greenwich in the United Kingdom.

At the Africa EV Summit 2026, Mayor Adanech brings the perspective of the host city: how a fast-growing African capital can connect cleaner transport with better streets, stronger public systems and opportunity for its residents.