Economics
Ethiopia Growth Clashes With Politics as Oromo Protests Rise
- More than 50 people killed while demonstrating, activists say
- Unrest shows conflict of authoritarian plans, ethnic rights
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Ethiopia’s rapid economic growth needs a burgeoning capital and less dependence on traditional farming. That’s pitting the government against members of its largest ethnic group, more than 50 of whom have allegedly been killed in protests in the past month.
Demonstrations by Oromo residents against a blueprint for the expansion of Addis Ababa have rocked at least 30 towns and prompted more than 500 arrests since Nov. 19, says the Oromo Federalist Congress, an opposition group. The unrest -- rare in the Horn of Africa nation -- highlights the conflict between Ethiopia’s authoritarian development model and its system of federalism, which guarantees the rights of more than 80 ethnicities.