Ethiopia – A Brief History
Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa and one of the oldest in the world. The oldest remains of a human ancestor ever found, which have been dated as being some five million years old, has been discovered in the Awash Valley of Ethiopia. This beats the discovery of “Lucy”, a 3.2-million-year-old skeleton, unearthed in the same area in 1974.
The Greek historian Herodotus, of the fifth century BC, describes ancient Ethiopia in his writings, while the Bible’s Old Testament records the Queen of Sheba’s visit to Jerusalem where “she proved Solomon with hard questions”. Matters clearly went further than that because legend asserts that King Menelik – the founder of the Ethiopian Empire – was the son of the Queen and Solomon.
The remains of Queen of Sheba’s palace can still be seen today in Axum, in the province of Tigray, northern Ethiopia. Axum is also home to many other extensive historical sites.
From the 1700s, for roughly 100 years, there was no central power in Ethiopia. This “Era of the Princes” was characterized by the turmoil caused by local rulers competing against each other for power. In 1869, however, Emperor Tewodros brought many of the princes together, and he was a significant unifying force. He was succeeded by Emperor Yohannes, who built upon the efforts made by Tewodros, as well as beating off invasion attempts by the Dervish and the Sudanese.
Emperor Menelik II reigned from 1889 to 1913, fending off the encroachment of European powers. Italy posed the greatest threat, having begun to colonize Ethiopia. In 1896 Ethiopia defeated Italy at the Battle of Adwa, which remains famous today as the first victory of an African nation over a colonial power.
In 1916, the Christian nobility deposed the sitting king, Lij Iyassu and made his predecessor’s, King Menelik II (1889 – 1913), daughter Zewditu, Empress and her cousin, Ras Tafari Makonnen (1892-1975) was appointed regent and successor to the throne.
Zewditu died in 1930, after which the regent – adopting the name Haileselassie – became Emperor. His reign was interrupted in 1936 when Italian forces briefly invaded and occupied Ethiopia. Haileselassie then appealed to the League of Nations, but that appeal fell on deaf ears and he fled to exile in the UK, where he spent five years until the Ethiopian patriotic resistance forces with the help of the British defeated the Italians and he returned to his throne.
Haileselassie then reigned until 1974 when he was deposed and a provisional council of soldiers (the Derg, meaning committee) seized power and installed a government which was socialist in name and military in style. The Derg stayed on power for 17 years only.
In 1991 Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front overthrew the Derg and the Transitional Government of Ethiopia (TGE) was set up by the EPRDF and other political parties in the country and a transitional constitution was set up. Eritrea on its part became independent country since then.
The Multiparty system was installed in Ethiopia and an election for a 548-member constituent assembly was held in June 1994. This assembly adopted the constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in December 1994. Elections for the first parliament were held in 1995 and the government was installed in August of the same year.
In 1994, a new constitution was written that formed a bicameral legislature and a judicial system. A general election was held in 1995 to elect the Parliament which also elected Meles Zenawi as Prime Minister and Negasso Gidada as president. Ethiopia’s second multiparty election was held in 2000 and Meles was re-elected as Prime Minister. In October 2001, Lieutenant Girma Wolde-Giorgis was elected as President. In the 2005 general election, the EPRDF won despite allegations of irregularities that resulted in widespread protests.
Following the death of Prime Minister Meles Zenawei in August 2012, Hailemariam Desalegn succeeded him as Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and Chairman of the ruling coalition for six consecutive years and Mulatu Teshome was elected as president of the nation on 7 October 2013.
Following popular uprisings seeking changes in leadership and reform of the ruling EPRDF coalition, Abiy Ahmed (PhD) was declared Prime Minister on 2 April 2018. The Parliament also appointed Sahle-Wok Zewde as Ethiopia’s first female president. Prime Minister Abiy has brought significant reforms particularly strengthening the democratic process, improving the economy, opening up the political space, releasing thousands of political prisoners, removing opposition groups from the government’s list of terrorists and many more. The ruling party, EDRDF, meanwhile transformed itself to Prosperity Party.
Prime Minister Abiy further expanded his effort to bring peace in the region and brought to an end the 20 years stalemate with Eritrea and signing a peace agreement. He was later awarded the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize because of his peace-making efforts.
Inclusion, Ethiopia is Africa’s oldest independent country and one of the fastest growing economies, the second most populous country in Africa with a population of over 120 million. The main sources of growth and investment in the country are industry, mainly construction and services, agriculture and manufacturing.
Since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power, the government introduced a home-grown economic reform and growth policy at the centre of which is private ownership through privatization of state-owned enterprises such as railway projects, sugar development plants, industrial parks, hotels and other manufacturing industries. Decision was made also to partially allow minimum shares on state owned companies such as Ethiopian Airlines, Ethio-Telecom, electricity generation projects and the Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics Services Enterprise. In launching of climate change resilience policy, Ethiopia’s Green Legacy program, initiated by His Excellency Abiy Ahmed (PhD), is contributing a vital role in balancing waste emission versus absorption by planting around tenth of Billions of trees.
