I didn't know its that difficult...simply put, Ethiopia's electric trains and cheap electricity will make it attractive for manufacturing firms...while Kenya will continue to attract firms offering services due to liberalised economy and better macroeconomic environment. Real GDP will grow faster in Ethiopia though under the circumstances...am I wrong?

It would be very meaningful if you actually visited Ethiopia and see their current status. Kenyans have no clue just how far ahead of the curve they are, Addis is a supersized Mlolongo,the Ethiopian human capital capacity is behind TZ. They do have some upsides, e.g their home developed leather industry has some quality stuff,

I will say it here, the Kenyan GDP is understated by upto 100%, many Kenyans hide their wealth and real incomes etc to avoid tax.

In a liberalized econ like ours, with no centralized data gathering system, it's hard for KB of statistics to come up with near-accurate stats. With many common man deals done outside the formal system, i would agree with @Obi, its understated.

Since when did government subsidies ever help any situation?? All they do is mask problems and are not sustainable!

Ethiopia will have a lower absolute GDP and Per capita income than Kenya in the next 20 years...

I also do expect Kenya to start the path towards double digit growth!

No way Ethiopia's closed economy will compete with the capitalistic / liberalized Kenya's economy.

The problem with kenyans is we pre-occupy ourselves with tribal politics at the expense of development.We build one 50km Thika highway and we keep singing and shouting about it to the whole World while the other roads are earth/murram roads.

Does Ethiopia have cement factories?

@Chaka;
There are the following cement companies;
Habesha cement Company
Dangote Cement Ethiopia
National Cement of Ethiopia;

Ethiopia is growing very fast and soon will overtake Kenya to become the kingpin of Eastern Africa.
There is too much politicking in Kenya that is consuming alot of time and energy at the expense of development.
Our Mpigs are only concerned about their perks at the expense of development and well being of all kenyans

I agree with you but correction Kenya's size = 582,647 sq. km

And to think the GDP of Kenya and Singapore were relatively the same at one time...anyway all we need is focus

From the thesis of the former Prime Minister of Ethiopia, the late Meles Zenawi:

"The political and economic renaissance of Africa is an issue that continues to preoccupy Africans' and non-Africans alike. Various methods of achieving such a renaissance have been proposed.
Most of these proposals are variations of the dominant neo-liberal paradigm of development. My argument is that the neo-liberal paradigm is a dead end, is incapable of bringing about the African renaissance, and that a fundamental shift in paradigm is required to bring about the African renaissance."
Another section
"Creating the proper blend of norms, values and rules to reduce uncertainty and transaction costs is a critical factor in accelerated growth and development. The creation of such social values and norms is called social development or social capital accumulation. Social development is thus not only an essential element of development but also a critical instrument of accelerated economic growth.
The accumulation of social capital, which plays such a critical role in accelerating economic growth, is a public good which has increasing returns to scale. It is, hence, undersupplied by the market and is subject to vicious and virtuous cycles. It is created by social activity by civic engagement in the context of horizontal and dense networks and inculcated and sustained through modeling, socialization and sanctions. The state plays a critical role in social capital accumulation through undermining patronage networks and promotion of fairness and equity, through the promotion of participation and democracy, and through appropriate sanctions and efforts at socialization."

Document is titled Dead Ends and New Beginnings

A lot of big sounding words, but basically, he says when a country is developing from a very low level like Kenya and most other African countries, the state has a big role to play in guiding development and allocation of scarce resources for maximum return in the best interest of the country. However, the state has to do it right. Not be wasteful,corrupt and inefficient.