An Ethiopian Thought at a Crossroad

Is Ethiopia at a Crossroad? It is a title of an article that i read yesterday. Are we or Are we not? It is a puzzling thoughts that storms Ethiopian, neighboring countries and the world at large.

Any political misstep at this moment takes us 40 years back again as it did in 1974 Derge' revolution. It is not a risk that we will advocate communism all over again to confiscate and expropriate private investment. Rather, it is a risk that investors dreads. A risk to have confidence in Ethiopia that it is a safe haven for their chunk of money.

Can political succession or transition easily and peacefully happen in Ethiopia?  Can politicians compromise to loose power or interest at will to national strategic interest? We have to bring forth affirmative answers for these questions if we need Ethiopia to prosper further. 

Investment sniffs political stability and policy predictability. Yes, Ethiopia is at a cross-road to prove it is strong to safeguard investments. Agricultural conglomerates, private Equity firms, investment groups and multinationals are watching whether Ethiopian political leadership must  forfeit personal sentiment and  "who-will-reign" attitude to lure FDI to the nation. 

Forfeiting personal gains must not be a foreign word in Ethiopian politics and bureaucratic world at this moment of time. Time is not to our advantage. Stability must be maintained to further investment. 

Policy predictability is a fact of life where Ethiopia has consistently failed. No one can tell for sure what policies will be subjected for change. Be it agriculture, industry, finance and economy, taxation. Public Institutions flush down rain of surprise to the surprise and dismay of private sector. 

This is an area where we have to work hard day and night to institutionalize all policies and empower technocrats and  meritocratic principles.