Berhanu Nega (Amharic: ብርሃኑ ነጋ; born 6 December 1958) is an Ethiopian politician who is serving as the current Minister of Education since 2021.

[2] Berhanu was born on 6 December 1958 in Debrezeit, the son of Ato Nega Bonger (d. 2021), a prominent businessman, and Woizero Abebech Woldegiorgis, the second-eldest of 12 children.

[3] When the government acted against political dissidents in 1977, Berhanu with other radical student activists fled to Mount Asimba in northern Ethiopia.

During that time, he became one of the organizers of an annual conference on the "Horn of Africa" that debated and analyzed the political, social and economic conditions in the sub-region.

For over five years, it served as a forum for intellectual dialogue among political leaders, policy analysts and researchers interested in developments in that part of Africa.

Berhanu became an entrepreneur and founded the Ethiopian Agro-Maize, a fertilizer-producing company, and Addis Village Family Home Builders.

[3] On 8 April 2001 Berhanu and Professor Mesfin Woldemariam held a day-long panel discussion at the hall of the National Lottery on academic freedom, which was followed by student protest on the main campus of Addis Ababa University.

They were arrested on the allegations that this panel incited a student protest at Addis Ababa University the next day, but were released on bail on 5 June, and neither were ever tried.

[7] Despite the post-election political impasse, CUD members, who had won 137 of the 138 seats on the city council, met on 20 August and elected Berhanu mayor of Addis Ababa.

[14] Ginbot 7 has claimed this allegation is part of the government's overall suppression of dissent by accusing its opponents of illegal activities and sentencing them in a kangaroo court.

In July 2015, Berhanu went to Eritrea, to permanently join the "freedom fighters" that have been receiving help from the government of Isayas Afewerki, a long time leader of the Red Sea state.

[18][19] After the 2021 Ethiopian general election, the Prosperity Party led by PM Abiy Ahmed won a landslide victory.