This paper explores the origin of the Ethiopian developmental state and the trajectory it took since 2001. The developmental state project is rooted in the party crisis of 2001 and the tradition of framing threats in existential terms by the Tigrian People Liberation Front (TPLF), the dominant party in the ruling coalition at the time, the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). By 2002, an internal issue, poverty, was framed as existentially threatening the Ethiopian state and its people. A commensurate attention was paid to bring rapid economic growth in the coming years and the EPRDF thought the ‘success’ in the economic arena will translate into votes during the 2005 elections. As it transpired, the EPRDF miscalculated and the hotly contested elections generated two trajectories: heightened authoritarianism and increasing fixation with mega-projects. Before the next elections, the EPRDF went back to the drawing board leading to the promulgation of repressive laws to prevent a repeat of 2005 (mass media law, anti-terrorism law, civil society law between 2008 and 2009) and commencement of mega-projects (railway networks, sugar development schemes, hydro-electric dams and establishment of state-owned corporations, such as sugar corporation, metal and engineering corporation, chemical industries corporation). This period also witnessed massive government expenditure on various physical infrastructures and other publicly funded projects, opening the door for neo-patrimonialism and non-consultative heavy-handed dealing with local communities where projects are sited. This, combined with longstanding grievances, precipitated in the violence and crises the country plunged in since 2014, and appears to be triggering a move towards meritocracy and a consultative process. This experience tells that the nature of the Ethiopian developmental state is under continuous de- and re-construction, making the task of giving it a ‘model’ at this point in time is less desirable. A particular model of developmental state is a product of context and the primary political concern of the crucial phases it passes through. It is not defined ex-ante, not even mid-way through the journey, but ex-post.