A Decade of Ethiopia: Politics, Economy and Society 2004-2016

261 Pages·2017·1.124 MB·English

by  Jon Abbink

A Decade of Ethiopia

A Decade of Ethiopia
Politics, Economy and Society
2004–2016
By
Jon Abbink
LEIDEN | BOSTON
The chapters on Ethiopia 2004–2015 were previously published in Brill’s Africa Yearbook.
Politics, Economy and Society South of the Sahara 2004–2015. The chapter on Ethiopia 2016
will be published in the forthcoming Africa Yearbook. Politics, Economy and Society South
of the Sahara 2016.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Abbink, J., author. | Bach, Jean-Nicolas, author.
Title: A decade of Ethiopia : politics, economy and society, 2004–2016 / by
 Jon Abbink ; with the cooperation of Jean-Nicolas Bach.
Description: Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2017. | “The chapters in this book on
 Ethiopia 2004–2015 were previously published in Brill’s Africa Yearbook :
 Politics, Economy and Society South of the Sahara 2004–2015. The other
 chapters are published here for the first time”—Title page verso. |
 Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017016927 (print) | LCCN 2017018280 (ebook) | ISBN
 9789004346826 (Paperback) | ISBN 9789004345881 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN
 9789004346826 (e-book)
Subjects: LCSH: Ethiopia—Politics and government—21st century. |
 Ethiopia—Social conditions—21st century. | Ethiopia—Economic
 conditions—21st century.
Classification: LCC DT388 (ebook) | LCC DT388 .A23 2017 (print) | DDC
 963.07/2—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017016927
Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/
brill-typeface.
isbn 978-90-04-34588-1 (paperback)
isbn 978-90-04-34682-6 (e-book)
Copyright 2017 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
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Contents
Acknowledgements vii
Ethiopia 2004–2016: Vagaries of the ‘Developmental State’
and Societal Challenges 1
Ethiopia in 2004 15
Ethiopia in 2005 34
Ethiopia in 2006 52
Ethiopia in 2007 70
Ethiopia in 2008 87
Ethiopia in 2009 105
Ethiopia in 2010 122
Ethiopia in 2011 140
Ethiopia in 2012 158
Ethiopia in 2013 175
Ethiopia in 2014 193
(by Jean-Nicolas Bach)
Ethiopia in 2015 208
Ethiopia in 2016 226
vi contents
Further Reading 245
Index 248
Acknowledgements
This is the fifth volume in the series “A Decade of …”, based on the
country chapters in the Africa Yearbook. Politics, Economy and
Society South of the Sahara of the past 13 years, including the new
2016 chapter. Previous monographs were on Mozambique, Ghana,
Namibia and Nigeria.
While no contents editing was done on these individual chapters
on Ethiopia, a brief introduction was added on some key political
and socio-economic background factors that will remain influen-
tial in shaping the country’s future societal development, and that
would need further research and also policy attention. Additional
features in this volume are a list of general readings on the country,
as well as an index.
I join my predecessors in this series in thanking Joed Elich, Franca
de Kort, Ellen Girmscheid and Debbie de Wit of Brill Publishers for
their continued support and efficient logistic and administrative as-
sistance for the African Yearbook project during the past years, and
Peter Colenbrander and Carol Rowe for their very professional lan-
guage editing of the chapters.
I also thank my colleague Jean-Nicolas Bach for having authored
one of the chapters (on 2014) in the year that I was unable to do so.

Ethiopia 2004–2016: Vagaries of
the ‘Developmental State’ and
Societal Challenges
This Introduction contains a brief recapitulation of the ‘state of
play’ in contemporary Ethiopia, with a view towards the future of
this important African country. Four domains are briefly highlight-
ed: political system, economic record, international role, and soci-
etal developments.
The decade or so described in this collection saw the emergence
of Ethiopia as a (self-designated) ‘developmental state’, for a large
part defined and shaped by the ideas and policies of the late Prime
Minister and ruling EPRDF party leader Meles Zenawi, who died in
August 2012. The process has known remarkable features, like sig-
nificant economic growth, as indexed by GDP and foreign direct in-
vestment, and infrastructural overhaul of the country (large dams
for hydro-electricity, roads, railway lines, emerging industrial parks,
and large-scale agrarian plantations). Significant social and political
changes and enduring controversies also occurred, as documented
widely in a flood of press articles and scientific literature. Indeed,
Ethiopia is perhaps one of the more dynamic countries in Africa: its
regional clout, its great diversity, its growing economy and potential
(with a population of c. 100 mln, 2nd in Africa), its being the center
of the AU headquarters, and its importance in continental politics,
e.g., with military actions across the border (Somalia), and partici-
pation in ‘peace-keeping’ or stabilization forces.
In view of its new economic dynamics and regional pivot position,
Ethiopia seems also to be regarded by many donor counties as more
or less ‘too big to fail’, explaining the comparatively high amounts
of development assistance and humanitarian aid that it receives
annually, despite its highly contested authoritarian trajectory and
negative human rights profile. It has indeed its political problems
© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���7 | doi ��.��63/97890043468�6_00�
2 ethiopia 2004–2016
and dilemmas.1 Domestically, there are several problematic con-
stants that illustrate continuity in political culture and governance
practices and are perhaps holding back further political and social
progress.
The Ethiopian political system has a number of original traits,
based on the recognition of ethnic identities as politically constitu-
tive and as a basis for administrative units and budget allocations.
There is a formal multi-party system, but nowhere – at the time of
writing – has an opposition party or any party outside the ruling
Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) ever
been a member of the government or of any regional or local ad-
ministration (Only the Afar Region may have been an exception for
a couple of years).
Despite the opening up of politics for a couple of years since May
1991, after the TLPF-EPRDF, winning the civil war, took over power
from the Derg regime of Mengistu Haile-Mariam, the authorities
have not been successful in establishing a free, democratic system.
Politics has remained a high-risk business in the country. The 2005
elections at the beginning of the decade under discussion were both
a highlight and low point of the Ethiopian ‘democratization process’,
announced in 1991 with the new EPRDF-led regime. In 2005 there
was, for the first time, significant electoral campaigning between
various parties, and 174 opposition party members were elected in
the 547-seat parliament, the ‘House of People’s Representatives’.
This came as a kind of shock to the ruling party. However, the ex-
periment, while promising, was not repeated in 2010, when only
one opposition member returned. After the 2015 elections, oppo-
sition presence in parliament dropped to zero, giving the ruling
party EPRDF and its various constituencies based on ethno-regional
1  Cp. E. Fantini & L. Puddu, “Ethiopia and international aid: development
between high modernism and exceptional measures”, in: T. Hagmann &
F. Reyntjens, eds, Aid and Authoritarianism in Africa: Development without
Democracy. London: Zed Press 2016, pp. 91–118.