The Ethiopian golden age, developmental state

1. The Ethiopian
Developmental State
Armend MUJA
University of Corvinus

2. Ethiopia: GDP in billion USD 2008-2017
27.7
32.4
29.4
31.9
43.3
47.1
55.6
64.4
77.3
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
2008 2009 2010 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

3. Ethiopia: GDP per Capita in USD PPP
592
979
1608
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
1800
1990 1995 2000 2005 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

4. Ethiopia: Population growth/unemployment
rate 2009-2017
83 85.4 87.7 90 92.4 94.8 97.3 99.8 102.4
26.4
22.9
20.6 20.4
18.9
18 17.5 17.4 16.8
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Population milion Unemployment %

5. The role of the state
• State is important for development
• Long culture of statehood with entrenched habit of authoritarianism
• State-building was an ingenious project driven by war and revolution
• Marxist ideology resulted from 1974 revolution of the Derg
• Implementation of Soviet blueprint of nationalization and structural
modernization started rather late when the shortcomings of the
system had become apparent
• Patters of state authority crucial for industrialization (Kohl)

6. Meles Zenawi Development Agenda
• A new development project starting from 1991
• Reforms spearheaded inspired by the need to create equality and
remove the dominance of northern highlands
• Meles Zenawai approach to development inspired by Maoist ideology
and Enver Hoxha (Albania)
• Zenway ideology of development drew heavily on East Asia model
contextualized to Ethiopian circumstances
• Political stability via internal federalization (ethnic)