The Conundrum of Imported Models in Africa: A Critical Review of the Ethiopian Developmental State and the Neoliberal-Oriented “Homegrown” Economic Reform

Abstract

Within the framework of critical development theory, this article first reviews the African experience of imitating external development models, focusing on the impact of neoliberalism on the continent, and the case for the developmental state. It then examines whether Ethiopia once again is abandoning an isomorphic emulation of a self-proclaimed developmental state by taking a stride toward neoliberalism with the ongoing reform since 2018. This reform, as witnessed by fast-tracked currency devaluation, privatization, and the removal of state subsidies, indicates a policy shift geared toward traditional neoliberal prescriptions. It argues that it is better to cautiously reform the Ethiopian developmental state to introduce exact features of the model instead of prematurely abandoning it for unbridled neoliberalism in the name of a “homegrown economic reform” that turned out to be an IMF/WB-brewed adjustment rather than a homegrown rebalancing.