| Economy |
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| Tuesday,May 27,2008 Posted: 03:18 BJT(1918 GMT) 驻埃塞俄比亚经商参处 |
Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world. Some regions of the country are prone to famine and weak government policies have long harmed progress. During Haile Selassie's imperial government of the mid 1900s, around 200,000 Ethiopians died due to famine. And during Mengistu Haile Mariam's 1980 government over 300,000 Ethiopians died due to famine.
After the change in government in 1991, there have been attempts to improve the economy but critics state the shortage of private sector business development. Some claim many government-owned properties during the previous regime have been transferred to pro-government enterprises in the name of privatization. But others praise the gradual growth of the private sector, particularly in urban areas. Yet Telecommunications remains a state monopoly, stifling the development of mobile phones that have become ubiquitous elsewhere in Africa. In financial services, no foreign banks are allowed and it remains almost impossible to find start-up loans for small and medium businesses. Youth unemployment is estimated to be as high as 70%. According to The Economist, because of population growth, just to stand still the country must produce hundreds of thousands of jobs every year.
The Ethiopian constitution defines the right to own land as belonging only to "the state and the people", but citizens may only lease land (up to 99 years), and are unable to mortgage, sell, or own it. Various groups and political parties have sought for full privatization of land, while other opposition parties are against privatization and favor communal ownership.
Agriculture accounts for almost 41 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), 80 percent of exports, and 80 percent of the labour force. Many other economic activities depend on agriculture, including marketing, processing, and export of agricultural products. Production is overwhelmingly of a subsistence nature, and a large part of commodity exports are provided by the small agricultural cash-crop sector. Principal crops include coffee, pulses (e.g., beans), oilseeds, cereals, potatoes, sugarcane, and vegetables.
Recently, Ethiopia has had a fast growing annual GDP and it was the fastest growing non-oil dependent African nation in 2007. Exports are almost entirely agricultural commodities, and coffee is the largest foreign exchange earner. Ethiopia is Africa's second biggest maize producer. Ethiopia's livestock population is believed to be the largest in Africa, and as of 1987 accounted for about 15 percent of the GDP.] Despite recent improvements, the rapidly exploding population means that Ethiopia remains one of the poorest nations in the world. According to a recent UN report the GNP per capita of Ethiopia has reached $160.The same report indicated that the life expectancy had improved substantially in recent years. The life expectancy of men is reported to be 52 and women 54 years.
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