Ethnic Federalism in a Dominant Party State: The Ethiopian Experience 1991-2000 Lovise Aalen r 2002: 2

Socio-economic differences between the federal units
The ethnic delimitation of the federal units has inevitably created large socio-
economic differences between the various regional states. Table 6.3 on selected
socio-economic indicators of the regions of Ethiopia illustrates that all the
federal units, except the urban regions of Addis Ababa and to some extent
Harar and Diredawa have a very low level of socio-economic development.
Table 6.3 Selected socio-economic indicators of the regions of Ethiopia 1996/-
97
Region
Urbanisation
(percentage)
Health
(doctor/
population
ratio)
Road network
(density in
‘000 km2)
Safe drinking
water (% of
pop. Served
with)
Tigray
14.4
1:39050
25.9
21.4
Afar
2.9
1:75429
10.9
13.0
Amhara
9.5
1:58608
25.6
21.0
Oromiya
11.1
1:63735
28.6
22.5
Somali
7.4
1:46013
5.8
10.6
Benishangul-Gumuz
7.3
1:16989
8.6
18.2
SNNPRS
7.2
1:43391
38.2
19.3
Gambella
16.6
1:12172
12.3
26.7
Harari
58.8
1:3418
63.3
63.6
Addis Ababa
99.2
1:6970
175.0
100.0
Diredawa
68.7
1:8401
28.7
78.8
Adapted from World Bank (2000: 70) and Ministry of Economic Development
and Co-operation, Regional Planning and Development Department (1998:
44).
The generally low level of development indicates that the regions will have
large obstacles in implementing the tasks that they are empowered to in the
federal constitution. The regional governments are likely to depend on both
technical and financial assistance from the central government in running the
regional affairs.
As mentioned in chapter three of this analysis, figures on quantitative data
in Ethiopia are sometimes inaccurate and lack reliability. The data from the
lowland regions, and particularly those from Somali and Afar, should be
treated with caution. It is difficult to measure both population numbers and
socio-economic development among pastoralists because they move from area
to area and are not registered in settled locations (Interview Tegegne Gebre
Egziabher, June 2000). Nevertheless, the figures above give indications and are
useful in understanding the asymmetry of the regional states in the federation.
The eastern lowlands of Somali and Afar are generally the least developed
regions, while the western lowlands of Gambella and Benishangul-Gumuz score
low on all the indicators except health. Gambella and Benishangul-Gumuz are
peripheral regions in the west along the border to Sudan, which have been

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74
largely neglected by the previous regimes and have thus little infrastructure and
economic development. The reason why they have a relatively high ratio of
doctor per person is probably that these regions have small populations
compared to the other regions (see table 2.1).
23
The eastern lowlands of Somali
and Afar are, as mentioned above, pastoralist and clan based societies, with
marginal experience with modern administration and little economic
diversification.
The socio-economic development level of each region is not necessarily the
most important factor in determining federal-regional relations and the federal
units’ abilities to fulfil the constitutional provisions that make them self-
governed. Historical and administrative experience and the way ethnic,
religious and political conflicts are handled are other factors that need to be
considered. The poorest regions, Afar, Somali, Gambella and Benishangul-
Gumuz, have all little administrative experience and are prone to internal
conflicts, either between clans or ethnic groups. These circumstances have
direct impact on the lowland regions’ ability to govern themselves and the
extent to which the central government and the party apparatus intervene in
regional affairs. This will be discussed further in the section on party power
and federal-regional relations. The next section of this analysis, however, will
explore the actual fiscal relationship between the regional governments and the
federal government in the centre. Do the fiscal relations follow the same pattern
as the socio-economic conditions described above, or are there other patterns
appearing as a result of federal policies to minimise the economic gap between
the regions?