STATE BUILDING, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, AND THE MAKING OF A FRONTIER REGIME IN NORTHEASTERN ETHIOPIA,<i>c.</i>1944–75

Puddu, Luca

doi:10.1017/s0021853715000778

Cited by 11 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…It would be misleading to explain this decision simply as a consequence of the Italian government's external intervention. In fact, the new arrangement reproduced the typical linkage between the Ethiopian Crown and the semi-independent enclaves that still prospered in other peripheral regions of the country (Puddu 2016). Banco di Roma was placed in a direct relationship with the Crown, bypassing the formal hierarchy that submitted commercial banks to the sole authority of the National Bank of Ethiopia.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

A contested financial frontier: banking and empire building in Eritrea,c.1952–73

Puddu¹

2021

Africa

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This article provides an account of the relationship between imperial Ethiopia and Eritrea in the realm of banking governance from the start of the federation to the last years of the imperial regime. It looks in particular at the relationship between the Ethiopian administrations and an Italian bank, Banco di Roma, which had its headquarters in Eritrea from 1948 to 1967 before moving to Addis Ababa. The struggle for control of the economic flows generated by the Italian bank is an index of the changes in centre–periphery linkages between Addis Ababa and the sub-regional centre of Asmara. Archival evidence highlights the multifaced nature of Ethiopian governance and the role performed by the Italian institution in providing alternative sources of diplomatic leverage and wealth accumulation to the Eritrean elite. It is argued that the extraterritorial status enjoyed by Banco di Roma until 1967 was actively tolerated by a section of the Ethiopian establishment, which resorted to an established pattern of imperial governance based on flexibility in return for tribute. This centre–periphery arrangement was harshly opposed by prominent Ethiopian officials from the Ministry of Finance and the National Bank of Ethiopia, who struggled to enforce tighter government control over capital flows within and across the country's borders. The National Bank's final success in the quest for financial centralization drained significant resources out of Eritrea, with adverse effects on the preservation of the pax aethiopica in the former Italian colony.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

A contested financial frontier: banking and empire building in Eritrea,c.1952–73

Puddu¹

2021

Africa

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“…Instead, the main economic priority for the Imperial government was to use foreign investment to promote import substitution and some exports. This included foreign investments in large-scale, 'modern' agriculture producing sugar and cotton in the Awash Basin, and sesame in Humera, north-western Ethiopia (Ashami 1985, Zewde 2008a, Puddu 2016. These investments avoided disruption to the political order in the highlands but necessitated displacement of pastoralists from grazing lands and water access.…”

Section: Modernisation and Stagnationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As Figure 4.2 shows, OECD donors did significantly increase support to Ethiopia from the late 2000s. However, this was primarily in response to what they considered to be an emerging success story and a government capable of delivering on its promises, rather than aid being a driver of developmental performance (Feyissa 2011a, Fantini andPuddu 2016). 17 The result was that although total aid increased, aid as a percentage of GDP was in decline.…”

Section: Elite Threat Perceptions: Armageddons and Renewalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethiopia’s ‘Developmental State’

Lavers

2023

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Ethiopia stands out as a leading example of state-led development in Africa. Tom Lavers offers in this book a comprehensive, multi-sector analysis of Ethiopia's development project, examining how regimes maintain power during the extended periods required to bring about economic transformation. Specifically, Lavers explores how the Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF, 1991-2019) sought to maintain political order through economic transformation, and why the party collapsed, leading to the outbreak of civil war in 2020. The book argues that the EPRDF sought to secure mass acquiescence through distribution of land and employment. However, rapid population growth and the limits of industrial policy in the contemporary global economy led to a distributive crisis that was a central factor in the regime's collapse. This Ethiopian experience raises important questions about the prospects for economic transformation elsewhere on the continent. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core at doi.org/9781009428316.

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“…However, the vast and (semi)‐arid landscape meant that imperial agents had limited interactions with those who did not live along the base of the highland mountains (Markakis, ; Thesiger, ). The interactions which did occur, successfully removed several sultanates, leaving the Aussa Sultanate with its capital in Asaita as the primary functioning sultanate within Ethiopian borders (Puddu, ).…”

Section: Conflicting Institutions and Governance In The Afar Regionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The attempted colonization by the fascist Italian government (1935–41) increased communications between the ruling Habasa leaders of the highlands with traditional periphery leaders of the Afar lowlands, such as the Aussa Sultanate of Afar. This was done to increase the control and influence that the Habasa had in the lowlands, and to form working relations by utilizing traditional structures (Puddu, ; Braukämper, ). Haile Selassie's absolutist state attempt to homogenize Ethiopia drove one of the most fundamental changes in Afar livelihoods; an instigation to transfer communal to private property through the introduction of plantations (cotton and sugarcane) along the Awash River and to promote private over communal land ownership (Abbay, ; Shehim, ).…”

Section: Conflicting Institutions and Governance In The Afar Regionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Repercussions of institutional governance changes on communication practices in the Afar National Regional State, Ethiopia

Pearson

Schmidt

2018

Singap J Trop Geogr

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Formal and informal institutions guide and shape communities and communication practices worldwide. Colonization, modernization and political transformation processes changed and questioned the role and relevance of informal institutions and strengthened the position of formal institutions. This paper looks at institutional governance transitions and the increasing presence of formal as opposed to informal clan based practices in the pastoralist lowlands of the Afar Region, Ethiopia, by analysing its impact on communication practices. Afar is governed by numerous multi‐scale institutions; a complex network of governmental and traditional, formal and informal bodies at different scales. The region witnessed the devaluation of indigenous and traditional customs, which altered how and with whom pastoralists and agro‐pastoralists communicate. The paper's case study shows that although residents now report their concerns to formal institutional representatives, traditional institutions are still functional. This change allows females to take a more active role in reporting concerns and communicating with authority figures. However, spatial disadvantages are present in this vast and sparsely populated region as those based further away from government representatives are disadvantaged. The relevance for a clear understanding of communication methods on the ground is stressed, in particular for implementing and disseminating programs and policies in this aid‐dependent area.

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STATE BUILDING, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, AND THE MAKING OF A FRONTIER REGIME IN NORTHEASTERN ETHIOPIA,c.1944–75

Cited by 11 publications

References 13 publications

A contested financial frontier: banking and empire building in Eritrea,c.1952–73

A contested financial frontier: banking and empire building in Eritrea,c.1952–73

Ethiopia’s ‘Developmental State’

Repercussions of institutional governance changes on communication practices in the Afar National Regional State, Ethiopia

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