If you want to travel to the federal republic in the Ethiopian highlands, you first have to climb 2,000 to 3,000 metres in altitude from the surrounding deserts. But there, a completely foreign culture opens up – and yet the same problems as everywhere else in Africa. At the turn of the millennium, Chinese poverty figures even lag behind those of one of the poorest African countries – but within a few years, this development turns around. China is effectively eradicating poverty, while Ethiopia is lagging behind. Reason enough to take China’s development model as a model.
Proportion of absolute poor in China and Ethiopia. Proportion of the respective population with less than 1.90 purchasing power-adjusted US dollars per day. (Source: World Bank, 2023)
In addition to massive public investments, it is drawing on China’s successful model of New Structural Economics. Using its leather sector as an example, we describe how Ethiopia integrated itself into global value chains and thus became an economic lion on the African continent within a few years.
Top left: Although lesser known than its big brother, the Grand Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile, which rises in Lake Tana in northwestern Ethiopia, the Gibe III Dam on the Omo River in the southwest of the country is nevertheless an impressive project. These hydropower projects not only serve to industrialize the country but also to provide a water reservoir to end agriculture’s dependence on irregular rainy seasons. Top center: A kiosk operator in Gonder. The state provides the visually impaired man with documents for his sociology studies in Braille. Top right: Away from South Africa, sub-Saharan Africa’s only rapid transit system runs in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa. Bottom: Nevertheless, subsistence agriculture still holds sway among large segments of the population. (Quelle: Mimi Abebayehu/wikicommons, 2016, own 2017)
Read more about how Ethiopia is pushing its domestic economy to raise the living standards of its citizens in Africa’s Century – Is the Grip on Prosperity Working?
![Am Boden liegen 292 Menschen, auf der zweiten Ebene am Rand
nochmals 130 Menschen. Insgesamt hatte das Zwischendeck eine
Höhe von unter 1,50 Meter. Jede freie Fläche wird benutzt, um
noch einen Menschen darauf zu stopfen. (Quelle: Clarkson, 1821
[10])](https://cycling-economics.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/14-Afrikanisches-Erbe-Sklavenschiff-ladeflache-865x1024.jpg)
