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The past successive regimes have consistently failed to transform the
country's economic, social and political conditions. They
instead heedlessly ruined the fabric of the society. Brave
sons and daughters of the nation who could not bear the utter
devastation and suppression therefore rose up to bring about a
system change. As the fighters succeeded in rallying the
people behind them they not only broke the fetters of slavery
but also created suitable condition for the development of the
country. Encouraging results have as a result been registered
in education, health, agriculture and other sectors during the
last 16 years. The agriculture and rural centered economic
policy has borne fruit under the matured leadership of EPRDF.
Let us briefly see the gains in some of the sectors.
1.
Education
Modern education started in Ethiopia in 1906. During the reign
of Emperor Menelik, the main purpose of education was to
produce manpower to the government bureaucracy. But since
there were few schools, priority in education was given to the
children of the Lords and chiefs,
Education did not at the time show much progress. At the end
of 1990, the number of educational institutions in the country
was:-
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284 Secondary schools.
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17 Vocational and technical training institutes
- 2 Universities
- 8,434 Primary schools with 2,063,635
students
Education coverage was 19.6%.
After the overthrow of the military regime, the EPRDF- led
government devoted so much of its energy and resource that the
sector has scored encouraging results in education at
impressive results at all levels.
As a result education coverage has increased fivefold.
Currently the country has:-
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19,412 Primary schools
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835 Secondary schools
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161 Preparatory schools
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119 Vocational and technical
training institutes
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22 Universities
Education coverage has grown from 19.6% in 1990 to 91.3%. Beyond this the policy addresses the question of fair
distribution of education.
2.
Health
The provision of health service was very limited in the
country over the past years. At the end of 1990, Ethiopia had
89 hospitals and 157 health centers. There were 3,575 nurses,
389 health officers, 377 pharmacists and 1,945 assistant
health officers (the figure included the Eritrean province).
After EPRDF came to power, it designed a National Health
Policy based on democratic and decentralization principles.
Due to this the number of professionals in the sector is
expected to reach 24,718 in the middle of 2008. The health
service coverage is also expected to reach 100% in 2009.
Currently all regions have medium health professional training
centers. In 1990 there were only three (3) higher health
professional training institutions and universities. At
present there are 18 of those institutions with enrollment
capacity of 12,000 students in a year. In the 1990s the intake
capacity was 700.
Ethiopia has 14 pharmaceutical factories and 128
pharmaceutical and medical equipment importers. The capital
budget which was 3.3% in 1991 also grew to 12.8% in 2004.
At national level 1,005 health institutions are working to
prevent HIV/AIDS by providing voluntary counseling and testing
services. Some 2.5 million people have benefited from the
services between 2005 and 2007.
3.
Potable water
At the end of 1991, 2.73 million urban dwellers got potable
water. People residing in rural areas had limited access to
drinking water. Due to the attention given to the sector by
the EPRDF-led government however a holistic program was
designed. The government has accordingly set certain programs
and strategies that raise the potable water coverage of urban
and rural areas to 100% and 98% respectively by 2012.
Currently, 25.39 million rural and 9.58 million urban
residents of the country are beneficiaries of the service. In
percentage terms, 78% urban, 41.2% rural inhabitants and 47%
of the country's total population access potable water.
4.
Irrigation
At the end of 2006/07 fiscal year, 346.3 thousand hectares
developed through irrigation method benefited 1.33 million
people. Additional 82,629 hectares were developed through
medium and large scale irrigation in same budget year. At
present three large and a medium irrigation projects are
developing 107,420 hectares.
5.
Agriculture
In order to increase the productivity of peasants and
pastoralists, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development has established 25 agricultural and technical
colleges between 2004 and 2007. Those institutions graduated
49,435 Development Agents who have been started providing
close assistance for farmers. In addition, 7,400 peasant
training centers were founded at kebele levels.
Speaking
in figures
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306 million quintals produce is expected in 2008
thus exceeding the harvest collected last year by 100 million
quintals.
-
Agricultural export generated 787.9 million USD
in 2006/7.
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Agricultural investment created 155,000 jobs.
-
Capital investment in the sector hit 160 million
birr.
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The agricultural extension program launched in
2002 with 32,047 farmers embraced 5 million in 2006.
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In 2007 over 125 million USD was earned from
flower export.
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Vegetables and fruits were cultivated on 700,000
hectares
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The Horticultural Producers and Exporters
Association earned over 1.5 billion USD over the past five
years.
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Over 100 investors are involved in horticulture.
6. Investment
Large scale investment was unthinkable during the former
regime. Local investors were not allowed to acquire over
500,000 birr capital. After the fall of the Derg, EPRDF
introduced free market economy which enabled Ethiopia to
become one of the highly investment attracting country in
Africa.
Due to the realization and implementation of the free market
economy principles, 24,506 investment projects with gross
capital of 307,839,636,200 birr have become operational. Out
of these, 21,289 projects owned by local investors and with
164,772,923,000 birr capital and 3,128 projects with
103,168,720,200 birr capital belonging to foreign investors as
well 89 government projects with 39,897,933,040 birr capital
are functioning in the country. These projects have created
permanent and temporary jobs to 3,050,600 citizens.
6.1 Alternative investment opportunities
6.1.1 Agriculture
Three quarter of Ethiopia's land (73.6 million hectares) is
suitable for agriculture. Yet only 16.5 million hectares have
so far been used. Investors which engage in the sector could
therefore draw a lot of benefit. The country's strategic
location to European and Middle Eastern countries also creates
market advantage in addition to its ideal climate.
6.2 Animal husbandry
Ethiopia’s animal population ranks the country as the first in
Africa and the 10th in the world. country has 41 million
livestock, 25 million sheep and 23 million camels. But the
benefit it gets from this sector is insignificant. Investors
interested in exporting live animals, meat and the like can
therefore easily succeed in their venture.
7.
Manufacturing
In Ethiopia, the manufacturing industry is very profitable,
especially in areas of:-
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Textile
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Leather and leather products
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Food
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Drinks
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Pharmaceutical and medical equipment |
