Ethiopia: The once-sleeping giant challenging Kenya’s dominance

President Uhuru Kenyatta (left) speaks with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn on the sidelines of a conference in Brussels, Belgium in June. [PHOTO: FILE/STANDARD

NAIROBI: Few countries in Africa boast a history as rich as Ethiopia’s. Egypt with its pyramids comes close, but that is about it.

The nation once called Abyssinia produced kings and queens whose legacy stretches all the way back to biblical times; its might and riches were legendary.