ETHOPIA: IT’S PAST AND CURRENT CHALLENGES
ETHIOPIA: ITS PAST AND CURRENT CHALLENGES
WRITTEN BY: MANDALA BINDU
5TH YEAR B.B.A. LL.B
ICFAI LAW SCHOOL, HYDERABAD
EDITED BY: VAISHNAVI PARATE
3RD YEAR, LL.B
SHRI NATHMAL GOENKA LAW COLLEGE, AKOLA
CO-EDITED BY: YASH JAIN
5TH YEAR B.B.A LL.B(H)
AMITY LAW SCHOOL, NOIDA
Ethiopia with more than 117 million population is the second most populous country in Africa and rapidly growing economy with 6.8 % growth in 2020-2021 in its region but, it’s the poorest and expected to reach lower-middle-income status by 2025. In the past 15 years, its economy is considered the fastest-growing in the world and the reduction of property can be seen in both urban and rural areas. Positive trends in poverty reduction have been observed in rural and urban areas as a result of their consistently strong economic growth over the past 10 years. In 2016, the number of people living below the national poverty line decreased tremendously, and improvement can also be seen in the human development indicators. However, in comparison to the other nations, their gains are modest. They saw fast growth, and inequality has increased in recent years. Furthermore, conflicts in Ethiopia risk undermining the economic and social development progress the country has achieved in recent years.
Ethiopia’s Past and Its Challenges Over a Period Of Time:
The several recent conflicts and Ethnic strife that preceded Ethiopia
has highlighted its troubled history, which stands out in Africa. Tracing back
to its origin right from the Axum kingdom and other kings over a period of time
eventually led to the “Solomonic bloodline”, to a period of migration marked by
warfare, It has been gradually weakening the imperial state over the next two
centuries of religious conflict and rivalries.
The history of conflicts can be seen right from the 1850s, during that period, under the regime of Menelik, Haile Selassie to Mengistu Haile Mariam, and in 1991 the acting government of Ethiopia under Meles Zenawi there was a mixture of a building of nations and warfare and transition.
The Battle of Adwa (1895–1896), and the Italo–Ethiopian War, was
the turning point that indicated the collapse of colonial power. Menelik's
foresight made it possible for Italy to acknowledge the nation's complete
independence in the Treaty of Addis Abeba (1896). When Haile Selassie became
emperor in 1930, he ushered in a period of modernization, but the subsequent
Italo-Ethiopian War hindered his efforts (1935-36). Following his return from
exile to Addis Ababa in 1941, he commenced military and political changes that
catalyzed social and economic development. However, these changes triggered his
unpopularity, bringing down the Ethiopian monarchy in 1974.
Mengistu Haile Mariam led the Dergue to unleash a reign of terror, otherwise known as the Ethiopian Red Terror. Agricultural productivity declined and famine persisted. Though dissent was suppressed, the regime fought armed uprisings, especially in the north, where embers had been burning since the 1960s. In the 1970s, a large-scale rebellion broke out in Tigray as the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) led by Meles Zenawi defied the military government and its policies.
With the support of the Soviet Union and its allies at the time supported both the military and the Mengistu government, but this began to collapse in the 1980s, affecting the course of the Eritrean-Tigre conflict. Since then, there’s a change in a lot of things: the majority of Eritrea was in the hands of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) After Mengistu fled into exile in Zimbabwe (1991), in May he declared the formation of the Eritrean Provisional Government (PGE) while the EPRDF took control of Addis Ababa.
While forming the Interim Government, the EPRDF chose the political group that led to the formation of the TGE. In connection with Eritrea's referendum on self-determination, there was an agreement between EPLF-EPRDF to use the assab port. The main feature of the 'National Charter' was the recognition of ethnicity allowed for a local and regional government under the ambit oF 'Federal Ethiopia'. It was the bridge that created a viable government and enabled the representation of ethnic groups to develop two multi-ethnic cities.
Some of the problems faced by the TGE were the processing of human rights files and the rehabilitation of large groups of "military" and ex-military personnel leading to clashes between government forces, ex-combatants, and rebel groups. There was also a refugee problem due to the presence of South Sudanese in the western region of Ethiopia.
During the term of Abiy Ahmed, the conflicts seem to end but neither
the ethnic politics nor the economic hurdles came to an end. In 2020, one year
after he won the Nobel Prize, clashes with government forces erupted in Tigray
in the north, sparking accusations that Ethiopia was committing a brutal
violation of human rights against the Tigray people.
Since the 2020 war with Tigray, the first formal African Union-led
peace deal between the Tigray People’s Liberation and the Ethiopian
Government was signed on 2nd November 2022 ending the two years of crucial war
which destroyed many of the people's livelihoods.
This leads to the reconciliation of the Tigray and the federal government, which played a prominent role in Ethiopia's coalition government until Ethiopia's current leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner (2019) Abiy Ahmed became Prime Minister.
REFERENCE LINKS
https://www.iastoppers.com/articles/ethiopia-its-past-and-current-challenges
https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/ethiopia-market-challenges
https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/august-2015/changing-face-ethiopia
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