ZHAO Shengbo, XU Wenbo, GAO Han

Keywords： Development Plan; Urban and Rural Development; Policy Evolution; Ethiopia; Africa

Abstract：

The National Development Plan (NDP) holds the highest status within Ethiopia’s national planning framework. In this paper, we conduct a comparative analysis of Ethiopia’s five NDPs since the 2000s across four dimensions: policymaking context, development objectives and key areas, pillar strategies, and planning implementation mechanisms, to understand the macroscopic characteristics of their dynamic evolution. Based on text analysis, we further explore the evolution of urban and rural development policies in the five NDPs. The paper reveals that the five NDPs have comprehensively taken into account the development context and national aspirations of their respective times. The evolution of development goals mirrors the shifting focuses of socio-economic development across different periods. While the key areas maintain a degree of continuity, they also exhibit notable fluctuating traits. Furthermore, the pillar strategies have undergone a transformation, evolving from a purely domestic focus to both domestic and international dimensions. The implementation mechanisms have also seen continuous improvement. Regarding urban and rural development policies, the five NDPs have gradually shifted from emphasizing agriculture and rural areas while subordinating urban development, to enhancing the mutual adaptability and relevance of urban and rural policies. This paper contributes to an objective understanding of the dynamic evolution of Ethiopia’s NDPs and is conducive to expanding the space for dialogue and cooperation between China and Ethiopia and other African countries in the fields of development planning and governance.

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