Born on May 05, 1951 and raised in Addis Ababa, Tekeda Alemu (PhD) has been a diplomat for thirty four years. He began his career at the rank of 1st Secretary in 1983. He was promoted within a few years as a counselor and later as acting head of the International Department and then as head of the African Department within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Upon the change of government in 1991, he became deputy minister of foreign affairs, a position he held until October 2001. He then became a state minister until he was finally appointed as Ethiopia’s permanent representative to the United Nations in New York in January 2011.
The career diplomat earned a B.A. and M.A. from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in political science and a Ph.D. also in political science from Claremont Graduate School in the United States. He was also assistant professor of political science and international relations at Addis Ababa University in the early 90’s.
Tekeda, the football enthusiast, smiles very much when he is asked to speak about his youth life and participation in football in which he had garnered an acclaim nationally and abroad. He had an illustrious history as a member of the UCLA’s Soccer Team, St. George Football Club and the national football team.
The EBR’s Amanyehun SiSAY visited the Permanent Mission of Ethiopia to the United Nations in New York recently and discussed with Ambassador Tekeda, known widely as one of the leading architects of the post 2002 Ethiopia’s foreign policy, about the works the mission has been doing since Ethiopia became a non-permanent member of the Security Council in January 2017 and other issues. The following is an excerpt.