For a long time, Ethiopia was known for famines, wars and extreme poverty. Now the symbol of a rising Africa, the country has shown another side in recent years, at once peaceful and in full expansion. Former Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who died in 2012, launched a genuine ‘great leap forward’ in the Chinese style with a huge construction programme for trade-related transportation infrastructure, facilities and networks. Now Ethiopia’s managing elites want to lead all of East Africa, pursuing the aspirations of Emperor Menelik II (1889-1913), the founder of Greater Ethiopia.