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Abiy Cautions on “Fragile Progress” as Mega-Projects Face Hurdles

Oct 28 , 2025

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) delivered a sobering message to a federal lawmaker from the Benshangul-Gumuz Regional State, cautioning that the country’s ambitious drive to develop infrastructure remains vulnerable to the twin pressures of complexity and political division.

Abiy painted a picture of the promise and the perils facing his Administration's big-ticket projects.

“It’s known that we do finish the projects we start,” he said, referring to several ongoing public proj3cts, including in Benishangul, home to the country’s gold refinery and Africa’s largest hydroelectric dam, the GERD.

But the Prime Minister warned that the scope of work is “very wide, like a sitting child," at once unsteady and susceptible to setbacks. He disclosed to MPs that there are 346 road projects underway nationwide, and described the electricity sector alone as a “1.4 billion dollars project.”

“The width also couldn’t keep up with the weight,” he said, describing a sprawling portfolio of roads, power stations and other public infrastructure projects struggling to match the expectations placed upon them.

In a rare note of acknowledgement, the Prime Minister admitted, “It's not a flawless government that can achieve everything. It's a government with many limitations.”

But he insisted that the same government had “brought about the development of Ethiopia from the ground up,” vowing to use adversity to sharpen performance and open the door to constructive criticism, even from opposition parties.

Abiy likened corruption to “a cancer that consumes the creative potential of aging,” stating that citizens forced to beg were “not always asking for the right” support.

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