Sir,
Your editorial “Ethiopia needs to change its authoritarian course” (January 10) claims the government of Ethiopia is authoritarian, gives little space to the private sector, and “has stifled entrepreneurialism and jeopardised a strong economic record that has seen growth average about 8 per cent since 2000”.
If the economy was stifled, how come it grew so fast and continues to do so? The World Bank considers Ethiopia “the world’s fastest growing economy”. The Ethiopian government strongly supports the creation of SMEs and is building industrial zones and agro-industrial parks in all regions. It also has a special rolling fund of 10bn Birr (about £285m) to help young entrepreneurs get established. As a result, millions of jobs have been created in the past couple of years, especially for women and young people, with more to come.
The Financial Times seems obsessed with the coalition being “dominated by the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front”. It has been listening far too much to the more toxic elements of the diaspora opposition. Fortunately, Ethiopia’s population of 100m do not share the FT’s prejudices, and have little time for ethnic-based incitement, especially as most have seen their lives continue to improve.
Ethiopia is a pro-poor government and follows a homegrown developmental state model. Perhaps this is what so irks the FT?
Yours,
Dr Hailemichael Aberra Afework
Ambassador of Ethiopia to the UK
Source: The Financial Times
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