Ethiopia is growing. Its growth, praised even by the usually skeptical international financial institutions, has brought a rare momentum of change in economic, social and political spheres. The age old Westernised inclination of associating Ethiopia with drought and impoverishment is, slowly but surely, fading away. A rather new image, associated with huge public investment push and construction boom, is replacing the dismaying historical legacy.
Ethiopia’s growth story is not a black and white one, though. Things are not as embellished as proponents of the incumbent would like others believe, and not as hopeless as their opponents paint. Much as growth is happening, structural transformation is not taking root fast. Ethiopia’s, therefore, is a story of growth minus comparable structural transformation.