Publications /
Policy Brief

Back
Abiy Ahmed’s ‘Medemer’ reforms: Can it ensure sustainable growth for Ethiopia and what are the challenges facing the new government?
March 5, 2019

Since coming to power on April 2018, Dr. Abiy seems to be unstoppable, making the world headlines on many occasions. He has embarked the country on an ambitious and transformative project; he has freed thousands of prisoners and established a Reconciliation Commission, has called on the privatization of state-owned enterprises and signed a stunning peace treaty with Eritrea. Furthermore, in a complete shift from the old paradigm of developmental state, the new PM outlined his renewed vision for the country’s development at the World Economic Forum (2019), which he said are deeply rooted in the concept of Medemer (meaning coming together or synergy in Amharic). Yet, with the next elections planned for 2020, change is pressing in Ethiopia and the new administration has to step on the accelerator to implement the promised radical reforms. This paper presents the key reforms outlined by the new prime minister and the main challenges facing Abiy Ahmed’s government.

RELATED CONTENT

  • March 10, 2022
    Africafé est une émission du Policy Center for the New South qui décrypte l’actualité des organisations africaines et de l’Afrique. A travers de courtes interviews, l’émission tente de proposer d’aborder de manière pédagogique les enjeux des organisations africaines et l’actualité du co...
  • Authors
    March 8, 2022
    The contrast between Argentina’s rich natural resource endowment and its poor economic performance has been the focus of much socio-political and economic analysis. When it created MERCOSUR with its immediate neighbors, Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay in 1991, it had access to a trading bloc with a combined GDP of US$ 419 trillion (2019), making it the 5th largest economy in the world. Joining the MERCOSUR was a break from its protectionist past. But it did not last. Argentina greatl ...
  • Authors
    Alessandro Minuto-Rizzo
    Bernardo Sorj
    Frannie Léautier
    Iskander Erzini Vernoit
    Kassie Freeman
    Nathalie Delapalme
    J. Peter Pham
    March 7, 2022
    The COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on the global economy and has challenged the best minds to rethink how to design and implement an effective recovery. Countries in the wider Atlantic region have exhibited differential trajectories in traversing the pandemic. A number of countries in Europe succeeded in vaccinating most of their eligible populations, enabling life to return somewhat to normal. A smaller group of countries in Europe could manage infection rates even more ti ...
  • Authors
    March 4, 2022
    The economic sanctions against Russia announced last week by the United States and Europe following the military invasion of Ukraine are having a profound impact on the Russian economy while also having repercussions at home. As in a boxing match, the expectation is that blows to the opponent can knock them out, despite the exposure on the punching side. The United States has applied some sectoral and limited economic sanctions against Russia since the annexation of Crimea in 2014 ...
  • Authors
    Justin Yifu Lin
    Pepe Zhang
    March 3, 2022
    مقال نشر للمرة الأولى على موقع بروجكت سيندكايت   واشنطن - تُثير موجات نقص الإمدادات الناجمة عن اندلاع الجائحة المخاوف بشأن الأمن القومي في الاقتصادات المتقدمة. ونظرًا إلى شعورهم بالقلق إزاء الاعتماد المفرط على التصنيع الصيني، اقترحت كل من الولايات المتحدة والاتحاد الأوروبي واليابان مبادرات لنقل الإنتاج. وهم ليسوا بمفردهم. تكتسب عملية إضفاء الطابع الجيوسياسي على الصلة بين التجارة والصناعة والأمن المزيد من الزخم في العالم النامي أيضًا. ومن غرب البلقان إلى أمريكا اللاتينية، ترى الحكو ...
  • Authors
    Justin Yifu Lin
    Pepe Zhang
    March 3, 2022
    This article was initially published on project-syndicate.org   Supply shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic have set off a rush to reshore or nearshore production in the name of national security and resilience. But policymakers tasked with shaping new industrial policies should have no illusions that there are shortcuts to economic development. WASHINGTON, DC – Pandemic-induced supply shortages have heightened national security concerns in advanced economies. Worried about ove ...
  • March 1, 2022
    يخصص مركز السياسات من أجل الجنوب الجديد حلقة برنامجه الأسبوعي "حديث الثلاثاء" لتقييم مخرجات القمة الاوروبية الافريقية ونموذج الشراكة الجديدة بين الطرفين، مع محمد لوليشكي، باحث بارز لدى مركز السياسات من أجل الجنوب الجديد. خلال القمة السادسة التي جمعت الاتحاديين في بروكسل وضع الاتحاد الأ...
  • February 28, 2022
    La guerre russo-ukrainienne aura des répercussions économiques et politiques dans les années à venir. Dans cette note, nous nous intéressons aux implications économiques de la guerre sur l’économie africaine à court et à long terme. Le conflit survient alors que l’Afrique s’efforce de mettre son économie sur la voie de la reprise, dans un contexte de pressions inflationnistes mondiales et de volatilité des marchés financiers et des matières premières. Alors que les exportateurs d’én ...
  • February 28, 2022
    The Russian-Ukrainian war will have major economic and political repercussions. In this note, we focus on the war’s economic short and long term implications on the African economy. This conflict comes at very arduous context, where Africa is still struggling to set its economy on the recovery path, amid global inflationary pressures and highly uncertain context. While natural resources countries, especially energy exporters, are sensing opportunities from the crisis, other countrie ...