(Addis) Fortune has identified the top 10 lessons Ethiopia can take from a decade that was as unpredictable as it was overwhelming and as promising as it was terrifying.

POLITICAL TRANSITION: NO WALK IN THE PARK (LESSON I)

After 27 years of domination of the political space, the EPRDF unraveled from the inside enduring three years of anti-government protests. Read more...

UNPRECEDENTED ECONOMIC GROWTH: ALSO BROUGHT ALONG INCOME INEQUALITY (LESSON II)

Ethiopia averaged 9.9pc annual GDP growth from 2008 to 2018, an impressive record by any standard.   Read more...

POLITICAL REFORMS: FREE SPACE DOESN’T NECESSARILY ENTAIL A FAIR ONE (LESSON III)

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's (PhD) administration took an action rarely undertaken by any other regime in the country’s history. Read more...

SOCIAL MEDIA: NOT SO FREE OF CHARGE (LESSON IV)

In the 2010s, Ethiopia, along with the rest of the world, learned the hard way that the astounding technological improvement in the exchange of information exacts a terrible cost. Read more...

MEGA PROJECTS: IT’S ALL ABOUT FOLLOW THROUGH (LESSON V)

Ethiopians, before the decade was out, were promised sugar and fertilizer factories and power-generating dams. The most highly anticipated, by virtue of endless advertising bordering on propaganda, was the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).Read more...

MANUFACTURING SECTOR: RIDDLE WRAPPED IN AN ENIGMA (LESSON VI)

The manufacturing sector's contribution to GDP is insignificant, although it is a high productivity area that can boost Ethiopia’s foreign currency earnings.Read more...

DEVALUATION OF BIRR: THE BITTER PILL THAT NEVER WORKED (LESSON VII)

Following a series of depreciation since, the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) trimmed the currency by 17pc in 2010.Read more...

EDUCATION POLICY: SO MANY DEGREES, SO LITTLE SKILLED (LESSON VIII)

Over 100,000 university graduates are expected to enter the labour market this year alone, graduating from no less than 42 public universities.Read more...

TAXES: A SMALL PIE CAN ONLY GIVE SO MUCH (LESSON IX)

The government instead supplemented its coffers through loans, grants, services and fees and revenues from state-owned enterprises.Read more...

RULE OF LAW: WHERE A STATE CAN NEVER FAIL (LESSON X)

The monopoly on legitimate violence belongs to the state, but the moment this rule stops to apply, the country begins a steady decline into an abyss from where coming back out in one piece will be hard.Read more...