Ethiopia has new prime minister, while China-style economics continue

Eric Lafforgue | Art in All of Us | Corbis via Getty Images

Ethiopian farmers threshing grain with bullocks on January 18, 2017, in Lalibela, Ethiopia.

Ethiopia’s population, the second largest in sub-Saharan Africa after Nigeria, has a median age of 18, according to Morley.

“Clearly, far greater private-sector involvement is going to be necessary if sufficient jobs are going to be created and growth be made sustainable over the medium to long term,” she said.

Despite the growth of industrialization, agriculture still accounts for one third of GDP. Low wages are an issue faced by those in newly-generated manufacturing jobs.

“Headline figures mask substantial variations,” Morley explained.

But given the pressing civil unrest which overturned Ethiopia’s political order two months ago, privatizing the economy while attempting to pacify ethnic divides would be a huge challenge for Abiye. He will likely “tinker at the edges of economic policy for the time being,” Morley said.