The Nobel Committee’s decision to award its Peace Prize to Abiy Ahmed, the prime minister of Ethiopia, marks a return to tradition.

Mr Abiy is a peacemaker of the old school. For starters, he has actually signed a peace deal, agreeing a treaty last year to end Ethiopia’s long-running border conflict with its neighbour Eritrea.

The war was a vicious one. Tens of thousands were killed, mostly in trench warfare, during the active phase of hostilities from 1998 to 2000.

Although the war subsequently evolved into a frozen conflict, fighting along the border flared up periodically and the animosity between the two states spread instability across the Horn of Africa.

The peace treaty, signed in Saudi Arabia in September last year, was almost entirely down to Mr Abiy’s efforts. Promising to “build a bridge of love” across the border, he flew to Asmara, the Eritrean capital, offering reconciliation and partnership.

Isaias Afwerki, the Eritrean dictator, had no choice but to respond. Diplomatic relations were restored. Flights and phone connections between the two countries resumed. The border was re-opened, allowing families to be reunited for the first time in two decades.