የኢትዮዽያውያን ዴሞክራቶች ድረ-ገፅEthiopian Democrats' Website

Source: Fortune;

Dear editors,

If we compare Ethiopia and the United States in living standards, sampling mansions of Bole District in Ethiopia and shanties on the south side of Chicago in the US, we might end up concluding that Ethiopia has a better living standard. Such was Getachew Alemu’s comparison of efficiencies of the state and the private sector in his opinion piece headlined, “Where Government Supersedes” (Volume 12, Number 609, December

31, 2011).

“Any rational human being would opt for the state, at least in poor countries such as Ethiopia,” Getachew declares, in what seems like intentional naiveté. It is all based on an observation made from just one private sector website and another of a government office.

Leaving the inadequacy of the sampling aside, the premises on which the arguments are made are found to be even sillier. The fact that a private company failed to have an updated website, whereas one government office did, has nothing to do with efficiency or inefficiency of the private sector or the state. If there is anything that it indicates, it is merely the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of the leadership and workers at the company and the government office.

It is fair to imagine that “it is ungainly to the society when such a person who is careless enough not to update his company’s website for five years is given state power.” But, the conclusion that this imagination leads to is not that the state should have a greater role than the private sector.

The conclusion is, rather, that “when incapable people are given state power, it is more ungainly to society than when they own private holdings. The more the state is dominant, the more dangerous it will be when led by incapable or ill-intentioned individuals.”

No question that the private sector in Ethiopia is “poorly organized, corrupt, and habitual.”

The question to ask, however, is: “Is the government not worse?”

What do tides of reality tell about the government’s record with respect to corruptness?

A broader look at the question, whether strengthening the private sector brings efficiencies or not, would lead to an opposite conclusion than that in Getachew’s opinion. Let the economic sectors on which the private sector has a comparatively higher role and sectors where the state monopolizes be compared.

Banking is one good example. Despite the strong intervention of the state, the fact that the private sector has participated has contributed much more efficiency, seen in the operations of banks. It would be wrong to assume similar efficiency would have been achieved if the state had monopolized the financial industry. The situation in the sectors, which the government monopolizes, proves such an assumption wrong.

The telecom industry is a good example. The state, presumably for political reasons, has maintained a monopoly of

the telecom industry. The result is that Ethiopia remains as one of the countries with lowest telecom technology usage.

Tides of reality show that areas where the private sector is playing a significant role are flourishing, while those that are monopolized by the state are stagnating.

Compare printed media and television. Is it not fair to state that the printed media is more advanced than the stagnant television industry? Imagine if Addis Zemen was the only newspaper around as ETV is the only television service and there was no Fortune or The Reporter. Where would the writer of this article funnel such an opinion as this one?

Compare the banking industry, which has shown tremendous growth with the participation of the private sector and the telecom industry which not only remains stagnant but also holds other sectors back from thriving with new technologies.

Do these comparisons not show that where the private sector participates the industries flourish and where it is absent they stagnate? Is it not evident that the inefficiency of the state is not merely a logical theory but a gigantic reality in the current Ethiopian economy?

Considering other views expressed by Getachew, I am compelled to assume that he is trying to point out the failures

of the private sector in order to pressure it to become a vibrant force that could play a progressive role in the Ethiopian economy.

If this observation was not cofounded with statements that promote state domination, it would have been a superb observation. Identifying the weaknesses of the private sector and recommending better ways to alleviate them is one thing that can be considered a just cause for the right reason. Promoting state domination in an already state dominated economy is another thing that can be best expressed as an unjust cause for the wrong reason.

Of course, there is no contradiction in promoting a strong government where there is a strong private sector. The contradiction comes when one calls for state domination over the private sector. The best scenario is a balanced relationship between the state and the private sector. The present situation in Ethiopia is far from such a scenario, and if one, especially as articulate as Getachew, needs to promote one thing, it should be the strengthening of the private sector.

The assertion that “the government supersedes” cannot be any farther from reality. The fact of the matter is rather that the government suppresses.

Mersea Kidan

mersea.kidan@gmail.com

Minnesota, USA