In May 2019 Forbes published Michael Posner’s argument that short-term Wall Street pressure pushed apparel companies in Ethiopia to skip the longer investments workers and factories actually need.
The essay sat inside the same garment boom that drew H&M, PVH, and Chinese manufacturers to industrial parks while monthly wages stayed extremely low. Posner said durable jobs, safer plants, and real local capacity require patient capital, not only cheap labor headlines.
Ethiopia’s clothing export push was sold as a development ladder. Critics already warned that without living wages, training, and local supply chains, the parks could stay a low-cost assembly stop rather than a lasting industry.
Kept as business and labor archive, the Forbes note pairs with NYU and other 2019 garment files. It asks what kind of money Ethiopia was attracting, not only how many shirts left Hawassa.
Sources: Forbes