Why can Ethiopia become the fastest growing country in Africa?

When it comes to Africa, people first think of poverty and backwardness. Because the eyes of the world are focused on America, Europe and Asia, this continent has almost become a corner forgotten by the world.

It turns out that South Africa, as the only rich region in Africa, was once one of the developed countries in the world. After Mandela led the black people to be the masters of the country, he gradually became a poor country.

However, according to the forecast of the World Bank in that year, from 20 18 to 20021year, among the four countries with the fastest economic growth in the world, Ethiopia in Africa was impressively listed.

(Map of Ethiopia)

After the decline of South Africa, Africa's development model is no longer concerned by the outside world, and western countries no longer participate in Africa's economic development. So, in this case, why can Ethiopia in the Horn of Africa stand out and become the fastest growing country in Africa?

First, the confusion of landlocked countries.

Ethiopia, located in the northeast of Africa, is a landlocked country with a land area of1140,000 square kilometers and a population of 94 million. It is the second most populous country in Africa after Nigeria.

From the map, Ethiopia's geographical location is somewhat embarrassing. Its north, east and south are close to the Indian Ocean, but its coastline is equally divided by Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalia.

Because of its inland location, Ethiopia can only rely on the ports of other countries for foreign trade and shipping. The port usage fee paid to Djibouti Port alone is as high as 800 million US dollars every year.

In order to make up for the lack of inland access to the sea in Africa, Ethiopia has come up with a strange trick. It joined hands with Djibouti to build the Ji Ya Railway, which facilitated Ethiopia's trip to the seaport and greatly eased the difficulties in trade and logistics.

(Ji Ya Railway Route Map)

Second, the "China model" took off.

Since 2004, Ethiopia's sluggish economy has started to grow rapidly, and the average growth rate of economic GDP has reached 10.44%. It even exceeded the average growth rate of emerging economies such as Vietnam and India in the same period. On the one hand, it benefited from the policy dividend of Ethiopian reform and opening up, on the other hand, it benefited from the reference of "China Model" and took the road of export-oriented economy.

After entering 20 10, the Ethiopian government, which has tasted the sweetness of "China model", is more active in moving closer to China. At one time, it also aroused the vigilance of western countries, thinking that Ethiopia has become the bridgehead for the infiltration of the East in Africa.

In fact, Ethiopia did send people to study the development experience of China's reform and opening up. They are building large-scale projects, paving the way for attracting investment, and the infrastructure is changing with each passing day. In addition to the Ji Ya Railway, the first inter-city rail transit line in Africa and the largest hydropower station in Africa have been built.

In addition to vigorously transforming infrastructure, Ethiopia has also learned from the advanced experience of political stability, ensuring the absolute leadership of the country by one party and avoiding the chaotic political situation of western political infighting.

In terms of policy, the People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, the ruling party in Ethiopia, copied the five-year plan and development outline. After the successful completion of the first five-year plan, the second five-year plan also advanced as scheduled.

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Third, the stability of the investment environment.

Ethiopia fully draws lessons from the experience of Zimbabwe and South Africa, and regards the stable political situation and social security environment as the main focus of attracting investment.

Since 199 1 came to power, the Ethiopian Democratic Revolutionary Front has made great efforts to maintain political stability. The whole country is United, heading east, not engaging in ideological struggle, and everything is escorted around economic construction. By cracking down on corruption and administrative inaction, Ethiopia's determination to attract investment is demonstrated to the outside world.

In recent years, in order to strengthen the introduction of foreign capital, Ethiopia has revised investment laws and regulations four times, continuously lowered the entry threshold for foreign capital, increased preferential investment policies, expanded investment fields, implemented tax relief and other measures to provide protection and services for foreign investors and encourage foreign investment.

The stable investment environment has attracted a lot of foreign investment, especially China enterprises. Ethiopia has attracted the most foreign investment in Africa for many years in a row, attracting 3.3 billion US dollars only in 20 18.

In the past five years, Ethiopia's industrial scale has soared from $654.38+0 billion to $4 billion, and its GDP reached $80.28 billion in 2065.438+08 alone, ranking 70th in the world. It is the fastest growing economy in Africa and the second fastest growing economy in the world.

According to the report of the World Bank, from 2006 to 20 16, the average annual growth rate of Ethiopia was 10.3%, nearly five percentage points higher than that of the same region. It is predicted that the national GDP will increase by 8. 1% from 20 18 to 202 1 year.

There is no doubt that Ethiopia is copying the essence of the Asian-style industrialization road, gradually replacing India, Vietnam and other regions with lower cost of production factors, and becoming one of the next most potential global manufacturing centers.