LEAD. Leaders' Visits & Agreements Database
Portrait of Demeke Mekonnen
Photo: DFID - UK Department for International Development Graham Carlow · CC BY 2.0

Deputy Prime Minister & Foreign Minister · Ethiopia

Demeke Mekonnen

40 recorded engagements, 2020–2024: 35 visits, 4 phone calls, 1 video conference and 4 signed agreements.

Open in the interactive map Ethiopia country profile
40Engagements
35Visits
4Phone calls
1Video conferences
4Signed agreements
32Destination countries
14Multilateral summits
2020–2024Years in LEAD

Biography

Ethiopian politician (born 1963)

Demeke Mekonnen Hassen (Amharic: ደመቀ መኮንን ሐሰን; born 27 September 1963) is an Ethiopian politician who was Deputy Prime Minister of Ethiopia from 2012 to 2024, Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2020 to 2024 and former vice-president of the Prosperity Party. He previously served as chairman of the Amhara Democratic Party (ADP) and deputy chair of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) until the dissolution of the two in December 2019.

== Life and education ==

Demeke was born in the Gojjam Province of Ethiopia and later was resettled to the Chagni district during the Derg's resettlement program. He is a Muslim Amhara.

Demeke was sent to a high school in Feres Bet, a town located in the present day Dega Damot woreda in Mirab Gojjam Zone. Later he joined the Addis Ababa University and studied Biology in the Arat Kilo campus and received his BA in 1988. He also earned his MA in Political Science from Bradford University.

After graduation, he returned to his native region to begin his career as a teacher. He taught biology in Feres Bet High School, for two years, before he was transferred to Bure in the same province. It was in Bure, which housed the lone high school...

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Where they travelled

Ethiopia   Visited or called (darker = more often)

Most-visited countries

  • United States of America4
  • South Sudan3
  • Sudan2
  • Djibouti2
  • Switzerland2
  • France1
  • Belgium1
  • United Kingdom1
  • Italy1
  • Sweden1
  • Turkey1
  • India1

Discussion topics

  • Diplomacy and Foreign Relations31
  • Regional Organizations and Multilateral Affairs18
  • International Conflicts and Crises17
  • Security and Defense11
  • Development and Aid10
  • Trade and Economic Relations7
  • Human Rights and Governance3
  • Financial and Monetary Issues2
  • Health1
  • Symbolic and Ceremonial Issues1
  • Energy1
  • Infrastructure and Connectivity1

Activity by year

2020: 7 engagements2021: 13 engagements2022: 7 engagements2023: 12 engagements2024: 1 engagement20202024

Signed agreements

Where the agreement's title was not recorded, its type or category is shown, as coded in the dataset.

DatePartnerWhat was signed
2021-02-17IndiaAgreement on Mutual Visa Exemption for Holders of Diplomatic Passports
MoU between CSIR–Central Leather Research Institute (India) and Wollo University (Ethiopia)
2022-07-07SenegalDakar Call to Action
Dakar Call to Action
2022-07-14ZambiaMemorandum of Understanding between Ethiopia and Namibia
2023-04-25ComorosAgreement on the Establishment of the Comoros-Ethiopia Joint Commission

Every recorded engagement

DateTypeDestinationAgreements
2020-11-23VisitFrance · Paris
2020-11-24VisitBelgium · Brussels
2020-11-25VisitUnited Kingdom · London
2020-11-26VisitItaly · Rome
2020-12-03Video conference SummitUnited States of America · New York
2020-12-23VisitSudan · Khartoum
2020-12-27VisitDjibouti · Djibouti City
2021-02-09Phone callSweden · Stockholm
2021-02-15VisitTurkey · Ankara
2021-02-17 – 2021-02-19VisitIndia · New DelhiAgreement signedAgreement on Mutual Visa Exemption for Holders of Diplomatic PassportsMoU between CSIR–Central Leather Research Institute (India) and Wollo University (Ethiopia)
2021-03-08Phone callCanada · Ottawa
2021-03-09VisitSouth Sudan · Juba
2021-03-12Phone callFinland · Helsinki
2021-04-04 – 2021-04-06VisitDemocratic Republic of the Congo · Kinshasa
2021-04-22Phone callVietnam · Hanoi
2021-06-22 – 2021-06-23VisitUnited Arab Emirates · Abu Dhabi
2021-06-23VisitRussia · Moscow
2021-09-21 – 2021-09-27Visit SummitUnited States of America · New York
2021-12-02 – 2021-12-04VisitAlgeria · Oran
2021-12-16VisitSouth Sudan · Juba
2022-02-18 – 2022-02-20Visit SummitGermany · Munich
2022-03-26 – 2022-03-27Visit SummitQatar · Doha
2022-07-07Visit SummitSenegal · DakarAgreement signedDakar Call to ActionDakar Call to Action
2022-07-14 – 2022-07-15VisitZambia · LusakaAgreement signedMemorandum of Understanding between Ethiopia and Namibia
2022-09-19 – 2022-09-24Visit SummitUnited States of America · New York
2022-11-23Visit SummitNiger · Niamey
2022-11-30 – 2022-12-01VisitSudan · Khartoum
2023-03-02 – 2023-03-03Visit SummitAzerbaijan · Baku
2023-04-24VisitTanzania · Zanzibar
2023-04-25VisitComoros · MoroniAgreement signedAgreement on the Establishment of the Comoros-Ethiopia Joint Commission
2023-04-26VisitBurundi · Bujumbura
2023-04-27Visit SummitUganda · Entebbe
2023-05-24 – 2023-05-28VisitChina · Beijing
2023-06-04VisitSaudi Arabia · Riyadh
2023-06-12Visit SummitDjibouti · Djibouti City
2023-09-15 – 2023-09-16Visit SummitCuba · Havana
2023-09-18 – 2023-09-23Visit SummitUnited States of America · New York
2023-11-01VisitSouth Sudan · Juba
2023-12-13 – 2023-12-15Visit SummitSwitzerland · Geneva
2024-01-17Visit SummitSwitzerland · Davos

Cite this profile

Ozturk, Y., Atabas, H., Guler, E., Duyar, B., & Yucel, R. (2026). Leaders' Visits & Agreements Database [Data set]. Africa Foundation. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22898778 [Demeke Mekonnen leader profile. Accessed 26 September 2026. https://lead-database.netlify.app/leaders/demeke-mekonnen.html]