INTERNATIONAL TRADE RELATIONS BETWEEN INDIA AND ETHIOPIA: A CASE OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Abstract

India and Ethiopia have a very long history of trade relationships that are in future, projected to be getting
stronger. Ethiopia is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, with yearly growth rates far above the world
average. There are definitely huge opportunities and scope of trade expansion between the two nations, but there are
many challenges facing the two nations that are stopping them from achieving their full potential.
India-Ethiopia relations feature in as a prime example of growing South-South trade relations; especially in the context
of a country like Ethiopia, which is one of the poorest in the world, trading with India, which also is also having a low
GDP per capita. However, what can also be observed is a growing rise of China in it trade with Ethiopia. This has left
India a distant second place in terms of Ethiopia’s foreign trade with Asian countries. Countering this fierce rivalry and
re-emergence of ancient trade ties between the two nations are the main topics explored in this paper. What this paper
seeks to establish is a possible path that two very important regional nations, with very similar problems economically
and socially should take in order to further strengthen their ties with each other, especially in the context of a growing
neo-colonialism in Africa being driven primarily by China.