Russia is Ethiopia's biggest friend because of religion. Japan is Ethiopia's other friend, since Ethiopia had a court faction which idolised Meiji-era Japan (Japanizers) and some Japanese likewise supported Ethiopia. There's also the whole African diaspora support for Ethiopia which could play a role, maybe with more black intellectuals being lured to Ethiopia and ending up helping the place out to some degree (I'm thinking of people like Ethiopian Air Force leader John C. Robinson, but I wonder how many other skilled individuals Ethiopia could attract given the will on Ethiopia's part and concurrent intellectual development in the African diaspora).
But Ethiopia has HUGE hurdles to overcome, like the feudal and decentralised system of the country--it was somewhat of a "hermit kingdom", and the whole Zemene Mesafint thing of the 18th and 19th century gave Ethiopia a pretty difficult hurdle to overcome from the get-go. Not to mention the very important need for a coast, meaning Eritrea must never be allowed to fall entirely into Italian (or French, or whoever's) hands. From my admittedly limited knowledge, the best bet is for the Japanizers to succeed over and over in Ethiopia. Ethiopia cannot pull a Meiji, but it can possibly end up Thailand and be a very important regional player (obviously, anything is better than Ethiopia's OTL outcome). The fact Japan and Russia aren't really good friends is a huge hurdle, because that means that Ethiopia has to be careful about how close their alliance and cooperation is.