Has Ethiopia Turned a Corner?

Posted: August 10th, 2016

By David Kahrmann

David Kahrmann is USAID Ethiopia's senior development outreach and communications officer. Previously, was responsible for USAID's outreach efforts in Serbia, West Bank/Gaza and the Office of Afghanistan and Pakistan Affairs. He led voter education in post-war Kosovo while with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe; worked on Iraq's first two post-Saddam elections; and served as the country director in Serbia of a regional public relations agency.

As a landlocked country with three of its immediate neighbors ranked in the top four of the most Fragile States Index, it is in Ethiopia’s interest to be a force for stability in the Horn of Africa. To that end, Ethiopia partners with the United States against terrorist organization al-Shabaab and other mutual foes, and contributes more peacekeeping troops to United Nations missions than any other country in Africa.

Within its own borders, the government of Ethiopia sees equitable economic development as the best way to ensure stability. Its commitment to driving that development has transformed Ethiopia into a global leader in GDP growth, with an average annual increase of more than 10 percent over the past decade. Even so, Ethiopia still ranks in the bottom 15 countries globally on both the UN’s Human Development Index (174 out of 188) and GDP per capita (170 out of 183, according to the World Bank in 2015). Ethiopia has a long way to go to reach its goal of middle-income nation status by 2025.

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