Can Ethiopia be Africa’s leading manufacturing hub?

With Ethiopia having the second biggest population in Africa, it is under growing pressure to tackle unemployment. The BBC’s Alastair Leithead visited the country to find out how it is tackling the problem.

The factory workers sing Ethiopia’s national anthem in unison as one shift ends and another prepares to begin.

Outside, a fleet of passenger buses pulls into Hawassa Industrial Park, as thousands of textile workers – most of them women – switch places.

The new arrivals take up their stations behind sewing machines, ironing boards and cutting tables as the shirts and suits start taking shape.

The park, claimed to be the biggest in Africa, is 140 hectares (350 acres) of factories, with a water treatment plant and its own textile mill.

Six months after opening in southern Ethiopia, 10,000 people already work here, and at full capacity it is expected to provide 60,000 jobs.

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Letters to the Editor

Ethiopia’s bold infrastructure initiatives

December 28, 2016

The Dec. 25 World article “Calm in Ethiopia belies seething anger underneath” omitted Ethiopia’s bold initiatives to advance its nation with a commitment to transform its economy and eliminate poverty through investments in vital categories of infrastructure in rail and electricity.On Dec. 17, Ethiopia inaugurated the Gibe III hydroelectric dam that will generate 1,870 megawatts of electricity. Ethiopia’s new electrified train, the first such train in sub-Saharan Africa, travels about 465 miles from the capital, Addis Ababa, to Djibouti. It will reduce travel time from several days to 12 hours or less . The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam under construction will provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity to the region.Ethiopia is experiencing growing pains, graduating a large number of students per year who are eager to work. While there may be shortcomings in governance, it is clear that the government’s intention is to create a unified state to benefit all Ethiopians. Violent demonstrations that weaken the economy harm the nation.

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Interview with Bereket Simon, Advisor to the Prime Minister

Lawrence Freeman

November 24 , 2014

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Interview With Bereket Simon: Ethiopia Adopts Rapid Development Approach

Addis Ababa

November 24, 2014

This is a philosophy which we have tried to learn from the world at large, and specifically also from the East Asian areas—actually from those countries that have shown a rapid development for the last 50-60 years. To a large extent, we have a similar philosophy in relation to the rapid development of the country, as well as a different approach to the democratization of the country. Our philosophy is that of the development of the democratic state, which was espoused by our late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. We give much attention to role of the state as the leading institution for bringing about rapid development, the transformation critical for the creation of a large and very strong private sector, and government assistance in unleashing the productive potential for the public at large.

Africa and the World

By Lawrence Freeman

Ethiopia