This is easy(ier) for Ethiopia because they already have one of if not the lowest rates of car ownership per capita in the world. 2 per 1000 people. Practically nobody there owns a car to begin with. And note the repeated distinction of “car” and not “vehicle.” Like most African nations (and Southeast Asia, and South America) the majority of people who have motorized personal transportation at all don’t own a car; instead they own a small motorbike.
Even so, according to the sources I found the motorized vehicle ownership rate per capita in general in Ethiopia is only approximately 6 in 1000 – motorbikes included. So this isn’t a very big Band-Aid for them to rip off compared to, say, most places in Europe. Or the US.
But hey, good for them. It’s like why so much of Sub-Saharan Africa ended up with massive increases in mobile phone usage despite relatively low landline penetration - it’s much easier to adopt something than to replace an existing infrastructure.
This is easy(ier) for Ethiopia because they already have one of if not the lowest rates of car ownership per capita in the world. 2 per 1000 people. Practically nobody there owns a car to begin with. And note the repeated distinction of “car” and not “vehicle.” Like most African nations (and Southeast Asia, and South America) the majority of people who have motorized personal transportation at all don’t own a car; instead they own a small motorbike.
Even so, according to the sources I found the motorized vehicle ownership rate per capita in general in Ethiopia is only approximately 6 in 1000 – motorbikes included. So this isn’t a very big Band-Aid for them to rip off compared to, say, most places in Europe. Or the US.
But hey, good for them. It’s like why so much of Sub-Saharan Africa ended up with massive increases in mobile phone usage despite relatively low landline penetration - it’s much easier to adopt something than to replace an existing infrastructure.
Yes, and not having a big money lobby behind whatever the old thing was fighting tooth and nail against progress probably helps, too.