Zemelak Ayetenew Ayele is an Associate Professor at the Addis Ababa University, where he is also the Director of the Center for Federal Studies. He received LL.B from Addis Ababa University, an Advanced Diploma in Federalism from the Institute of Federalism, Fribourg University, an LL.M and LL.D from the University of the Western Cape (UWC). He has widely published in the area of decentralisation and federalism in Ethiopia and Africa, including a book titled Local Government in Ethiopia: Advancing development and accommodating ethnic minorities.