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International Journal of Political Science and Development Vol. 5(6), pp. 203–209, October, 2017. DOI: 10.14662/IJPSD2017.034 ISSN: 2360-784X
Research Paper
Successes and Failures of International Financial Institutions (IFIs) in Exporting Neoliberalism in Africa: The Case of Ethiopia
Melkamu Dires Asabu
Faculty of social science, Department of Political Science and International Relations, Woldia University, Woldia, Ethiopia. E-mail: dires.melkamu@gmail.com, Tel: +251-922752795
Accepted 26 October 2017
After
adjusted their policies based on the conditionality, Africans were
funded by International Financial Institutions (IFIs). The
conditionality was highly connected with neoliberalism and its relevance
for African remained controversial. Western hegemony in the global
political economy offered no opportunity for Africans except accepted
the inaugurated neoliberalism ideology. However, the rise of new global
power in the 21st century resulted in a wide spread interest about the
prospect for the emergence of viable developmental states to many
African states, including Ethiopia (Mesgna, 2015). In developmental
state, the economy policy is neither free market nor command rather it
is in between (Fritz & Menocal, 2007). Therefore, this study aimed on
exploring the successes and failures of IFIs in exporting neoliberalism
in Africa particularly from the current context of Ethiopia. The method
what I have employed to do so was by collecting and analyzing curable
secondary sources including books, journal articles, research papers and
other relevant official documents. The results revealed that successes
were replacement of command economy over free market, since 1991; the
Establishment of the Ethiopian Privatization Agency (EPA); Privatizing
financial institutions; Open the economy for Foreign Direct Investment,
only on the selected areas; Devaluation of currency; Privatizing
broadcasting services; and Privatizing road and water transport. In
contrary, the failures were Restrictions of foreign banks entry;
Provision of investment incentives; Reserved some Investment areas for
domestic investors; Government monopoly in telecommunication,
electricity, transportation (air and rail), and land (constitutionally
declared as its government property); Lack of deregulation commitment;
and Recent shifting from free market to developmental state. In short,
currently Ethiopia encouraged the involvement of private sectors to
advance the country’s economic development, however, the government also
actively involved on the economy. Therefore, it is possible to argue
that the existing economic policy of Ethiopia has “heterodox” contents.
Cite This Article As: Asabu MD (2017). Successes and Failures of International Financial Institutions (IFIs) in Exporting Neoliberalism in Africa: The Case of Ethiopia. Int. J. Polit. Sci. Develop. 5(6) 203-209
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