Many countries grew rich off of US exploitation. Japan and then China wouldn't be the power houses they are today if it wasn't for the US needing a place to offload cheap and dirty manufacturing. True, many more countries were just exploited without any gain, but there are factors that can tilt the balance in your favor.

The fact that they're a strong economy with a strong military and have a government wary of imperialism bodes well, as long as the can keep the number of revolutions and civil conflicts low. Stability is the key.

Let's have a nuanced conversation about this. The article suggests that Ethiopia may be trying to position itself as a destination for manufacturing. In today's global economy, regardless of value judgments about its merits, less developed countries have an opportunity because they can offer much lower labor costs than highly-developed states. However, structural changes that result from large-scale gainful employment cause costs to rise over time, as a middle class emerges, people place themselves into global context, and begin to ponder whether they can realistically achieve something better. This is happening in China today.

The continent of Africa remains the last frontier in outsourcing manufacturing, but right now it's not competitive: transport costs are high, there are issues with utilities, capricious governments, and no established concentration of expertise. The Chinese involvement is working hard on improving these for other reasons, but ironically it may enable Ethiopia to begin to take on roles that China has now in the global supply chain. It may also be deliberate: during a gold rush, most money was made by those who enabled the prospectors, not the prospectors themselves.