BY HIZKEL HAILU
“As an ordinary citizen, when I return to my home land, Ethiopia, after my 16 years stay at the United States of America, I have noticed that the economic activity of the country in general and the City of Addis Ababa in particular are growing fast.
“Walking along the streets, there are many shops on the sides of the roads. If there is a lot to sell, then there is a buyer. If anyone buys, it is possible to recognize that the economy is moving forward. Additionally, most people wear clean clothes, women look beautiful with their good looking hair style. Hotels, especially the middle class, are fully operational.
There is also a quick movement that shows a person walking on the street is going to work and rest. Most people do not have anxiety. Cognizant of this glance, the economy seems to be moving in the right track,” Berhane Mewa, Former President of Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations said.
In his recent stay with Addis Zemen Daily, Berhane further stated that Ethiopia is endowed with myriads of natural resources; adding its citizens also know how to use the natural resources as well. These days, the process of using natural resources seems to be better, he noted.
Although the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) government had strived to augment the agricultural-led economy for the past 27 years, it could not register better results as far as it was expected. This is because the economy needs to run transformed agriculture. Of late, however, a new initiative has been launched and is being underway widely under the leadership of the reformist prime minister, Abiy Ahmed (PhD).
The reform in deed needs determination to get to work. A lot of work is being undertaken right now on agriculture sector. As the new economic reform includes the people, the investors and the beneficiary community, growth can be achieved by using better national resources, he asserted.
Moreover, the Homegrown Economic Reform Agenda set by the government of Ethiopia is also a well-coordinated response and blueprint to propel the country’s economic progress.
As to him, the agenda is a quite significant thing if it is used to focus on import substitution products. The essence of homegrown economic reform also includes the idea that makes foreign investors to use local inputs for their investment. It also enables local products to be competitive on the global market.
He also explained that local producers should be encouraged and empowered to compete with foreign markets. If the government makes tax-exemption and other governmental assistance for them to be competitive with the world market, it is possible to create trade balance across the nation. In this regard, the home grown economy initiative is of paramount importance for the national economic growth, he added.
Relating about the virtue of peace and stability in Ethiopia, he elucidated that there will be no economic growth without peace across the nation. When a problem arises in some parts of the country, roads may be closed; when the roads are closed, there might not be transaction which resulted in suffer of the economy. This can be pragmatic because of the business actors such as, the sellers and buyers as well as the owners of transportation vehicles are affected at different level.
This will damage the market chain between the manufacturers to the consumers. Hence, sustainable Peace is essential to boost the economy. There was a time when various industries burned down; different cities were destroyed due to the absence of peace at several parts of the country during the past three decades.
All of these have overshadowed every economic foundation across the country. In spite of the fact that this is the problem of extreme ethnic politics, it is difficult to be sure that such problems will no more exist like what have been observed during the past there years unless this political system is replaced by non extremist system, he opined.
Sharing the experience of some Asian countries like China and Singapore, he further explained that they have taken less than half a century to get rid of poverty and assure development. In this regard, if the current political situation gets stabilized, there will be an opportunity for Ethiopia to move towards the level of development of these countries in the short term.
There is no doubt that Ethiopia is a country with a great potential. Therefore, according to him, it will not take long for the Ethiopian people to grow. “If Ethiopians can avoid ethnic politics, high economic growth will be achieved in the near future. One of the riding factors to this is our country has many educated people; and easily trainable young generation. The other is there is also an exemplary tolerance among different religions, languages and cultures. Therefore, if work is done in a coordinated manner, change will come in a short period of time,” he asserted.
Similarly, country’s laws and policies have a direct impact on business. Therefore, the first row on the challenges of the Ethiopian chamber of commerce is the policy problem. The second and biggest problem is administrative corruption, and partisanship. The third problem is capacity related where lack of knowledge in the business is a fundamental problem of the business of course.
“When we have a look at what is happening in our country as a whole, I think the current government is working to solve any problem exerting its utmost effort. But, it is also a matter of great concern that there is a serious shortage of foreign exchange in the financial sector. In order to curb this forex deficit, the government needs to support domestic production and increase exports,” he remarked.
By the same token, it is obvious that construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) plays a significant role in the national development and economic transformation. This dam of course is not only the dream of this generation, but it had also been a dream of our forefathers. As a matter of chance, this generation is privileged to get the opportunity to support building the dam.
According to him, GERD is essential to the people of Ethiopia as a whole, both psychologically and materially. As the economic significance of the Dam is inarguable, all Ethiopians should work hand in glove until its completion.
These days, many projects at Addis Ababa in particular and across the country in general are likely to be completed with specific time over the past three years. Therefore, considering the government’s commitment to complete different projects in time coupled with taking the country’s natural potential, it is possible to achieve better economic growth in the future, he stated.
Indubitably, the reformist government is undertaking different policy amendments coupled with setting the new ones in order to support the nation’s economic growth. The policy amendments have also resulted in national economic growth during past fiscal year.
Inflation, on the other hand, has an adverse effect on political and economic affairs. So that, as to him, political reform will change many things. On the contrary, political silence exacerbates inflation. Thus, there is the fact that some individuals are treated as children whereas the others are being treated as stepchildren which should be circumvented sooner than later.
First and foremost, every citizen in the country should be allowed to move and work based on his/her interest. But the root cause of every domestic problem is politics and policy. If politics and policy are corrected and everyone works for unity and development, inflation and other problems will be solved. In fact many problems can be solved if each and every individual is respected and treated equally, he recommended.
The Ethiopian Herald July 4/2021
