Many countries in Africa have suffered because of the gerontocratic nature of their politics, an issue I have often lamented. Some "elders", such as Robert Mugabe, lost touch with modern statecraft and the changing conditions of life - and have been toppled. Others, such as Nigeria's Muhammadu Buhari, are loathe to let go of power, and not only grow old but sick, too. Others still, like Gabon's longstanding Bongo dynasty, are determined to be fixtures who move political allies and allegiances like pawns on a chessboard, but no longer do anything to benefit countries they no longer understand.

It is no wonder, then, that almost everybody's African prime minister of 2018 was Ethiopia's Abiy Ahmed. The 42-year-old survived an assassination attempt and faced down a mutiny by his own soldiers by challenging them to a push-ups competition - which he ably won. He appointed a female president and half of his cabinet ministers are women. He freed thousands of political prisoners and lifted a huge raft of censorship measures.

...