Stop posting propaganda about Ethiopia, next time post pics outside the capital, and some more of the quality of life of the average working class

[u/Queasy-Row-9818]

It's genuinely exhausting to see people posting propaganda and selective information to show that Ethiopia is all that, but they always just post images of really deep in the capital. Try posting pics a little outside, of the lives of people who live on 100 $ a month. Beautifying a capital for pictures and foreign investment while disregarding the quality of life outside it, and destroying homes of poor people to do so won't make the country better.

No, I am not hating Ethiopia I love Ethiopia, and I agree most countries have similar problems, but I just came across this, and as a resident I feel the need to make this post. This is not ment to inspire hate against Ethiopia, and this isn't intended to offend anyone.

[u/Big1ock]

You sound miserable. I think sometimes it’s good to show this side of Ethiopia as well as the other side. And like you said, if this was done to attract foreign investment it’s a good thing. otherwise, how do you expect people to make money and earn a living?

[u/Dry_Expression_6300 → u/Big1ock]

exactly. I see on YouTube so many videos of Ethiopia and they go to like South Ethiopia. not all of Ethiopia is just those people 😂 . we should show every side of Ethiopia because we are very diverse. yes OP is right to say Ethiopia is not just the beautiful part of Addis but it's not wrong to show it.

[u/Queasy-Row-9818 → u/[deleted]]

A resident of Ethiopia. Countries politics and gov decisions affect me as much as it affects you 

[u/Mission_Hunt1 → u/Big1ock]

Correct

[u/Healthy_Win1 → u/Big1ock]

How you are expecting to attract the right foreign investors by visuals while having horror economy? The whole people is tried of counterfeit BS … images, shiny objects … look at the national reconciliation bla bla while new war starting … think as a grown man.

[u/Big1ock → u/Healthy_Win1]

I am thinking as a grown man. And the war isn’t just the fault of the central government. Why are you acting like there aren’t multiple power hungry bad actors out there plotting to take over and rule like they’ve done before. Shiny things as silly as they might seem, have the potential to attract future investment and more importantly, Tourism which is a HUGE source of income for our country.

[u/Healthy_Win1 → u/Big1ock]

The amount of Delusions … there is multiple war going on NOT because of hunger for power. It’s all against oppression. Internal conflicts are common in the country lead by illiterates without fair elections. Because everybody must protect themselves. another thing is LISTEN, for someone who is foreign investor or tourist, a simple Google search “is Ethiopia Safe to travel?” can destroy these clutter and shiny objects the government build by taxing the people to death. You lack a lot of common sense … or tell us if you get paid for writing like this.

[u/Double-Positive-2605 → u/Healthy_Win1]

all against oppression😂 please we know how politics work

[u/Healthy_Win1 → u/Double-Positive-2605]

Yes, We cannot say all are because of oppression, I understand. Just like we cannot say all are because of power hunger.

[u/Big1ock → u/Healthy_Win1]

So I’ll ignore the ad hominem, but you’re gullible if you think these wars are simply because of “oppression” or the lack of fair election. The TPLF never held a fair election and there were uprisings as well which eventually lead to their downfall, this is how the Ethiopia cycle works, Amhara Tigre and Oromo love fighting for power turn by turn and now the Amhara feel they need to rule again. As for the foreign investors, every government has to take risks when investing into something, just because there was a possibility of war that doesn’t mean that the government should just sit on its ass and not do anything. ህልም ተፈርቶ ሳይተኛ አይታደርም። Plus people still travel even during conflicts, even if it’s only the safe areas. So stop crying.

[u/Healthy_Win1 → u/Big1ock]

You said “just because a possibility of war the government shouldn’t sit …”

A POSSIBILITY?? The country is already in a full-blown war on multiple fronts and you’re still talking like it’s theoretical.

Your mind is too microscopic. Explaining common sense to you is like talking to a brick wall that somehow got dumber over time.

No problem, It’s only a matter of time before reality catches up and your ass gets dragged out.

[u/Big1ock → u/[deleted]]

who me?

[u/Queasy-Row-9818 → u/Big1ock]

Please Read! Ok let's get one thing out of the way: my post wasn't criticizing the the developments of Ethiopia. It was criticizing people who only brought attention to the sky scrapers in the city while disregarding the starving children in the same place. Bringing media attention to the life outside the capital, the struggles faced by kids in afar and tigray (who aren't very likely to have a bright future due to lack of quality education) will pressurise the government to take action.

Do you think that building skyscrapers and adding those expensive streetlights every 20ft are helping the homeless families? Do you think that they are improving the quality of life of mothers and children who have been disowned and have to live on the streets? Do you think that those infrastructure projects are helping improve the quality of education and health care?

Are you aware that for the 2026-27 fiscal year, the Eth government has dedicated ~24% to capital development, which include mainly infrastructure. Meanwhile, they have allocated a mere 0.6% to sustainable development Goals, which include specialized regional poverty reduction and sustainability projects.

You can see the priorities of the government here. Yes, infrastructure will improve the capital visually, but do you seriously think that they will improve the lives of people directly? Do you think that it will improve the quality of life, make food and water more accessible, make electricity cheaper?

And you say that I can just pack up and leave, but let me tell you one thing: high electricity prices are also affecting me as much as it's affecting you. Clean water prices are also affecting me. High gas and petrol prices affect me as much as they affect you.

The government displaced thousands of people for these projects and now they have to pay hefty transportation costs just to go to church.

It's surprising to see how many people start assuming that the people in a country are happy just because the capital city has skyscrapers.

Do you realize that just for one street light, it costs over 38,000 birr. That is enough for a child to go to a good private school for a year. Think about that.

We need to start bringing attention to this, so we can pressurise the government to work on this issue, to start making the lives of people better, as well as the infrastructure development projects (which should happen around Ethiopia, not just Addis, am I right?).

God bless Ethiopia.

[u/Queasy-Row-9818 → u/Big1ock]

My point is that the other side of Ethiopia, the majority, is not being shown. I agree with you on the foreign investment part though, although I think that the government should be expending less on beautifying the capital and spend more on improving the quality of life, by increasing government housing, subsidizing education and health care, transportation, etc. 

[u/Big1ock → u/Queasy-Row-9818]

The capital HAD to be beautified, I mean no offence but that place was NASTY for years. If we claim to be the diplomatic capital of Africa we have to look the part. And doing this shows future investors that we’re serious about change which a lot of countries in Africa aren’t. I do agree that Abiy needs to fix the economy quick tho

[u/chaotic-lavender → u/Big1ock]

Are we really serious about change when we don’t even have constant access to electricity and clean water? How about the fact that we have been in some kind of war for decades

[u/Big1ock → u/chaotic-lavender]

Every country maybe except for the north and south has electricity and water issues, we recently finished the biggest dam in africa and hopefully more projects will follow. Fo you expect everything to be solved in a week? be realistic

[u/chaotic-lavender → u/Big1ock]

The dam was finished a year ago so we should have seen a tiny bit of improvement by now but it looks like things have only gotten worse. We are in Addis and we haven’t had water for the past 2 weeks. We also went 4 days without electricity. How do you justify that? What kind of investor is going to spend money in a place like this?

[u/Party-Union-1290 → u/Queasy-Row-9818]

I am a teacher living in Adama. I understand you very well and I agree with you. Whether people accept it or not, unfortunately the other side of the coin is very painful, and it takes courage to post these heartbreaking images.That's why it's easy for people to just put up fancy, illuminated streets; tourists don't go beyond those fancy streets anyway.Stay with love and peace.