Large infrastructure projects (if successful) have a significant effect on societies and can boost long-term economic output, but they are also problematic if they fail. Massive amounts of public money can evaporate in a few projects, and that can destroy the public finances of a small economy. A large public investment project, which usually involves national pride, produces little or nothing of value compared to its investment. At the same time, it prevents the rise of small projects and sucks up resources for a very long time. In an effort to understand how large infrastructure projects are being prepared in Ethiopia, the author has previously conducted an inquiry into the country’s project preparation and decision-making processes. The results of the study indicated many shortcomings: limited or no use of a formal project governance system, a top-down approach, a culture of overlooking project-related risks, exaggerating project benefits, and optimism bias. In this study, the author further examines the previous findings, presents an improvement option for the country’s project governance system, and recommends that, no matter how eager we are to transform the country, there is no need to rush to implement large and complex infrastructure projects with several unclear risks and consequences ahead. Priority should be given to setting up political and technical gatekeeping mechanisms, (go/no go) stages, that can stop wrong projects before conception. Parallelly, such mechanisms enable valuable project concepts to be selected, implemented, and linked with other prime streams of development.