Ethiopia: One of the world's fastest growing economies

[Ron]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15739706

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-22596218

Ethiopia's Economy is growing over 8% a year

[InoCabdi]

tuck in!

[somali4lyf]

Reminds me this lament of Pres. Kagame: http://m.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/ ... CMP=twt_gu

When a developing country is coming out of the rubble, you see all these western aid agencies taking credit for the changes occurring. I wonder how long that economic growth will continue before the western countries halt the progress of such nation through aid control, policing human rights...and many shit to come.

[EEGA9]

A lot of the growth figures are simply cooked up to impress aid agencies and donors deceiving the average people, there is growth in Ethiopia in some sectors but non of the wealth is really spreading.Too much corruption and nepotism has crippled the economy. The economy is not run by technocrats but rather the ruling parties henchmen and their loyal supporters making a quick buck here and there.

'The fact is that for all the aid money and Chinese loans coming in, Ethiopia's economy is neither growing fast enough nor producing enough jobs. The number of jobs created by flowers is insignificant beside an increase in population of about 2m a year, one of the fastest rates in Africa… The government claims that the economy has been growing at an impressive 10% a year since 2003-04, but the real figure is probably more like 5-6%, which is little more than the average for sub-Saharan Africa. And even that modestly improved rate, with a small building boom in Addis Ababa, for instance, has led to the overheating of the economy, with inflation moving up to 19% earlier this year before the government took remedial action. The reasons for this economic crawl are not hard to find. Beyond the government-directed state, funded substantially by foreign aid, there is—almost uniquely in Africa—virtually no private-sector business at all.

'Ethiopia underperforms in many of the 10 economic freedoms. The business and investment regime is burdensome and opaque. The overall quality and efficiency of government services have been poor and are further undermined by weak rule of law and pervasive corruption. Monetary stability is hampered by state distortions in prices and interest rates, and trade freedom is hurt by high tariff and non-tariff barriers… All imports must be channeled through Ethiopian nationals registered as official import or distribution agents with the Ministry of Trade and Industry. Foreign participation is prohibited in domestic banking, insurance and microcredit services, and several other activities… Ethiopia ranks 126th out of 179 countries in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index for 2008. Despite legal restrictions, officials have been accused of manipulating the privatization process, and state-owned and party-owned businesses receive preferential access to land leases and credit.'