Institutional Development In Ethiopia: Challenges And Policy Options

Strong, vibrant and credible formal and informal institutions are critical for the harmonious existence anddevelopment of any society. Theirmultifaceted nature, as well as themultiplicity and variety of thefunctions they fulfill for societymakes institutions the indispensablecornerstones of social structure. This is mainly because they serve as a building-block through which countries developmental goals and aspirations can be realized. Thus, the paper was intended at identifying the challenges affecting the development of transparent, accountable, effective and well-functioning institutions in Ethiopia through the review of relevant scanty literature on the subject matter and data gained from CPIA. The review indicates organizational fragmentation, weak leadership, absence of continuity, lack of adequate resources, donor dependence and conflicting mandates, problem of governance, failure to integrate traditional values and norms, strong politicization during reforms as well as political instability are the major challenges affecting the development of capable institutions in Ethiopia. Hence, redirecting attention towards domestic norms and societal values, generating capacity for leadership through continuous and progressive training and education, and promoting institutional coherence through prioritizing, coordinating and integrating goals are suggested as appropriate policy options among others to ensure the development of adequate and capable institutions in Ethiopia.