Is there anyone with more detailed knowledge of Ethiopia during this period? Because honestly I see much potential and plenty of PODs, but don't know enough to really comment on exactly how it could work out.
Is there anyone with more detailed knowledge of Ethiopia during this period? Because honestly I see much potential and plenty of PODs, but don't know enough to really comment on exactly how it could work out.
Not really. The Ethiopians were still operating under a feudal system, and there were religious divisions between Christian and Muslim, ethinic ones between the native Amhara and the Oromo that had moved into the region at the dawn of the 19th century, various wars and civil wars among the princely states & inter-nobility squabbles, ideological and factional differences vis-à-vis what, exactly, to do about the Europeans & Egyptians, etc. etc.
The whole area was basically a basket-case until well into the 20th century.
Highly competent? Not very... The traditional Era of Princes is dated to the mid-1750s, but the cycle of systematic violent coups, counter-coups, civil wars, rebellions, etc., all stemmed back to at least the late 1500s. I would say Ethiopia hadn't been truly stable since the reign of Sarsa Dengel.
Sure there's plenty of opportunities to avoid or somewhat diminish that, and given enough time things could certainly work out, but lets' not kid ourselves - that's well beyond the realm of what the OP asked for, and even then being stable as opposed to FUBAR is a long way from first world status.
Here's an idea. Have post-WWII Ethiopia avoid the 30 years under Derg rule. That could enable it to become first-world by 2010, with a stable monarchical government and a firm hand on the reins of the state.