how did Ethiopia wind up with so many mil-surps?
Europe (and "the West") have been meddling in Ethiopia for more than a century.
Ethiopia was (and is) a nation of great resources, and in a reasonably strategic location. The rulers of Ethiopia knew this and bought some of the best weapons available--French, German, Czech, etc.
The Italians brought some of their own (and repurposed the extant arms).
Those opposed to the Italians brought their own arms, too.
When geopolitics shifted, so did the suppliers of arms in support of those shifts.
Ian tells it far better than I.
Now, the interesting thing--to this discussion--is that many of the Carbines were actually sent by France, who was disposing of arms they had been given, US arms aid was rather meager.
Now, recently, as in a couple of years ago, Ethiopia noticed that they had all these warehouses of ancient arms stacked like cordwood, and offered them up to the world for sale, as is. Enter RTI.
This is how the "milsurp world" occurred in the first place. Far away place has piles of old arms, and no longer wants to pay to store them. They get wholesaled, and importers flood the market with them. The flood brings low prices, until the flood ebbs. There are only so many places with giant warehouses of idle arms. And, they do burst forth--like when Nepal disposed of all of their surplus arms.
