Concept

Economy of Ethiopia

Summary
The economy of Ethiopia is a mixed and transition economy with a large public sector. The government of Ethiopia is in the process of privatizing many of the state-owned businesses and moving toward a market economy. The banking, telecommunication and transportation sectors of the economy are dominated by government-owned companies. Ethiopia has one of the fastest-growing economies in the world and is Africa's second most populous country. Many properties owned by the government during the previous regime have now been privatized or are in the process of privatization and the liberalization of its financial sector in the near future. However, certain sectors such as telecommunications, financial and insurance services, air and land transportation services, and retail, are considered as strategic sectors and are expected to remain under state control for the foreseeable future. Almost 50% of Ethiopia's population is under the age of 18. Even though education enrolment at primary and tertiary level has increased significantly, job creation has not caught up with the increased output from educational institutes. The country must create hundreds of thousands of jobs every year just to keep up with population growth. Economic history of Ethiopia Ethiopia's resources have enabled the country—unlike most sub-Saharan African countries—to maintain contacts with the outside world for centuries. Since ancient times, Ethiopian traders exchanged gold, ivory, musk, and wild animal skins for salt and luxury goods, such as silk and velvet. By the late nineteenth century, coffee had become one of Ethiopia's more important cash crops. At that time, most trade flowed along two major trade routes, both of which terminated in the far southwest in the Kefa-Jima region. From there, one route went north to Mitsiwa via Gonder and Adwa, the other along the Awash River valley to Harer and then on to Berbera or Zeila on the Red Sea. Despite its many riches, Ethiopia would stop being a great trading state after fall of Axum.
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