With new 787s on the way (I believe first to be delivered in June), I suspect they will try to recruit more experienced expat pilots to fill-in the vacant 767 and 737 positions if they wish to staff the 787 themselves.
I do agree that if I were a local Ethopian lucky enough to get a job with the national carrier, I would get a few thousand hours and then apply to the Gulf carriers once competitive. Living in Dubai on the Emirates contract (including housing, etc.) or in Doha on the QR contract would be a huge improvement over life at home I suspect.
Thanks for the interesting read Maxthrust!
I hope you get a seat on their new 787 and tell us about it...