Withered Hope!

The challenge now is to make sure that Ethiopia’s growth continues. Ethiopia suffers from a lack of foreign exchange, which means it cannot afford machinery and equipment. Electricity shortage also makes it hard to run heavy industry. (Joseph Stigliz, 2007)

The above phrase is taken from the writing of Joseph Stigliz, a Nobel-winning economist, who was also chief economist of the World Bank, in his article entitled on the ground: Joseph stigliz in Ethiopia. The quote would indicate the severity of the challenges that had surrounded the Ethiopian economy by that time. After two years, in this critical time of global financial meltdown, the Ethiopian economy remained to be ailing as exports of the country has decreased significantly, the once skyrocketed oil price has emptied the national reserve, inflation is still high enough (in double digits) eating up people’s income, private transfers are decreasing significantly and power shortage is still the major headache of the economy.

Meanwhile, the only way of accounting for the uncertain future - proper planning (with precise risk analysis) – seems to be left aside. As a keen observer to what is going on around, I would pose two questions with simple answers, which I would elaborate in the following paragraphs. Why are we here? Ans. Because we are poor in planning. What is the way out? Ans. Thoughtful planning.

It might seem too foolish to give such simple answers to questions referring to the very intricated socio-economic problems of Ethiopia. On the other hand, critics might follow stemming from the fact that Ethiopia is known for pioneering development planning in Africa. Yet, these points will not change the answers to the above questions.

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