Abstract
Political leadership mainly contributes to economic development in the formulation of appropriate policies, programs, and the design of follow-up strategies by creating strong institutions for speeding up the pace of development in the country. EPRDF leadership since the fall of the Mengistu regime dealt with multiple international donors and organizations including the IMF and World Bank and get immense assistance and aid in the name of development projects. This paper deals with how the state will achieve economic development in a short period and what kind of political leadership and political decisions should have to implement to achieve it. This article relied on key informants' interviews, reports, legal and government documents, books, research works, and journal articles for data collation. Content and narration were data analyzed methods in this article. The article attempted that due to the bleak performance of political leadership, Ethiopia remains one of the poorest countries in the world. The extreme ethnic politicization and conflicts due to the ethnic-language-based federal structure become a danger to the economy and state security. It negatively affects the free flow of capital and labor movement from one area to the other and affects the stagnant private sector development in the country. To achieve a highly progressive economy and to keep its sustainability, the political leadership has to use the existing capital to shift from a high public expenditure-led economy to private-led economy growth with the structuring of the political leadership with prudent and self-mastery leadership.
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Source: World Bank Data 2017
Source: World Bank Data 2017
Source: World Bank Data 2017
Source: World Bank Data, 2017
Source: National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) Data 2017
Source: IMF: World Economic Outlook 2018
Source: World Bank Data 2017
Source: World Bank Data 2017
Source: Own calculation based on NBE Data 2017. Openness = Export + Import/GDP(at a constant market price)
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Data availability
The datasets generated during and/or analyzed in this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Change history
11 September 2023
A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-023-00757-w
Notes
Author interview notes. 2017, July 14. Addis Ababa.
Author interview notes. 2017, October 20. Addis Ababa.
Author interview notes. 2017, July 01. Chairman of All Ethiopian Unity Party. Personal interview. Addis Ababa.
The agricultural productivity mainly depend on favorable weather and good rainfall. According to UNDP (2014) report in addition to favorable weather and good rainfall, improved access to market and agricultural outputs and pursue of enhanced policy and advocacy can play an important role in agricultural productivity (UNDP 2014), During the same period (GTPI), the industrial 13 sub sector like manufacturing and construction has also increased by 13 and 25 percent respectively. Regarding the service14 sub sector, most of the components of the service sector have achieved the positive growth. Trade, transport and communication and hotel and restaurant increased by 12, 13, and 18.5 percent, respectively, during the first 4 years of GTP I for more detail see Teshome (2015). The performances and challenges of growth and transformation plan I in Ethiopia: The case of economic growth and social development, part I. See also MOFED (2010), Report and NBE (2017), Report.
Trade openness refers to the outward or inward orientation of a given country's economy. Outward orientation refers to economies that take significant advantage of the opportunities to trade with other countries. Inward orientation refers to economies that overlook taking or are unable to take advantage of the opportunities to trade with other countries.
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Asrat, G., Dagu, Y. Political leadership and economic development in Ethiopia: practice and lessons. SN Soc Sci 3, 35 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-023-00624-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-023-00624-8