Berhanu Nega (b. 1958, Bishoftu, Ethiopia) was appointed Minister of Education in 2021. He hails from a Gurage ethnic background and a family involved in business ventures.

Berhanu’s political engagement began during his student years in the 1960s–70s. He joined the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Party (EPRP), participated in protests, and later fought with its armed wing. After being captured and detained, he fled to the U.S., where he earned political asylum. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics (State University of New York at Stony Brook) and a Ph.D. in Economics (The New School for Social Research). 

Before returning to Ethiopia in 1991, Berhanu taught economics at Bucknell University. Back home, he involved both in business and academia, founding Agro-Maize and Addis Village Family Home Builders while serving as President of the Ethiopian Economic Association. 

In 2005, he became Deputy Chairman and chief election strategist for the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD). The coalition won Addis Ababa’s elections, making Berhanu mayor-elect, though he never assumed office due to post-election turmoil. 

Berhanu founded Rainbow Ethiopia: Movement for Democracy and Social Justice and later co-founded Ginbot 7, a group designated as a terrorist organization until 2018. Following political reforms that led to Abiy Ahmed’s ascension to the premiership, charges against Berhanu were dropped as part of a wide-scale amnesty. He subsequently returned to Ethiopia and resumed his role as a political leader. In 2019, he led the merger of Ginbot 7 and six other parties to form Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice (EZEMA).