[yorwba]

> Literacy rate data is from 1994 onwards, steadily up

Supporting the argument, since progress keeps following the trend.

> life expectancy growth accelerated from ~2000 and is slowing down a bit again

Slight waviness superimposed on the overall trend.

> how is GDP per capita, an important metric, “a bit of a exception”

GDP per capita had a trend reversal in 2000, unlike the other metrics.

> annual GDP growth rate does seem a lot more steady since 2004

Most likely a change in methodology that gives less noisy estimates.

[oefrha]

> GDP per capita had a trend reversal in 2000, unlike the other metrics

Two other less important and less immediate metrics. The “exception” easily outweigh them both.

[yorwba]

I spent some time browsing the World Bank's data portal and found another metric that shows similar exceptional growth: number of pupils in primary education https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.PRM.ENRL?locations=E...

That one takes off in 1993, about a decade before GDP exploded. Maybe the secret to Ethiopia's growth is just that the population became educated enough to do something useful with the money invested by foreign entities?

[oefrha]

Certainly could be.