From: Biniam Haile \(SWE\) (eritrea.lave@comhem.se)
Date: Thu Jul 17 2008 - 10:50:10 EDT
FEATURE-In Eritrea, self help is a national legacy
17 Jul 2008 12:04:48 GMT
By Jack Kimball
ASMARA, July 17 (Reuters) - You can hear the ping of metal striking
metal and the gentle buzz of wood being cut before you even enter Medebr
market in the Eritrean capital.
Inside, a cacophony of hammering and sawing assails the ears while
bright blue flashes from welding guns strike the eyes. Down a dirt
street inside this old open market, artisan Berhane Seid cuts small
slits in a shell casing.
The combs that Berhane carves from these remnants of Eritrea's wars are
sold to hairdressers, who use them to straighten hair.
"Self-reliance is very important ... You don't have to expect anything
from anybody," says the veteran of Eritrea's 1998-2000 border conflict
with neighbour Ethiopia.
Berhane, like many in the Red Sea state, feels a steely pride in the
government's self-reliance policy, a legacy of Eritrea's 30-year
independence war with Ethiopia, Washington's top regional ally.
During the war -- popularly known as the "Struggle" -- guerrillas had
little outside help. Goods like medicines and radios were manufactured
in camouflaged tents and bunkers.
After independence in 1991, that enforced policy became an enduring
legacy. But it has put Eritrea, home to around 4.7 million people, at
loggerheads with many Western donors and could hamper foreign
investment, analysts say.
In late 2005, drought-prone Eritrea cut food aid by more than 94
percent, according to aid agencies. Months later, all food aid was
stopped except to people displaced by the border war with Ethiopia,
according to the World Bank.
In the past three years, the Asmara government has repealed the permits
of more than a dozen international aid agencies. It says Western powers
have used aid in the past to meddle in countries' internal affairs.
It also says food aid creates a culture of dependency.
"Genuine independent help is not neo-colonialism," said one Western
diplomat in Asmara.
EQUAL PARTNERSHIP
Eritrea's tradition of self-reliance comes vividly to life in Medebr
market.
Used oil drums are recycled to make traditional ovens for cooking injera
-- a spongy bread eaten in Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Artisans construct intricate Orthodox Christian crosses. Others pound
away at sizzling scrap metal, morphing it into hoes for the planting
season.
President Isaias Afwerki told Reuters in an interview in mid-May that
his nation was not trying to cut itself off from the rest of the world.
"We would like integration more than anybody else ... Self-reliance is
interpreted as an isolationist trend, which it is not at all ...
Self-reliance is preparing yourself for partnership, equal partnership,"
he said.
Eritrea's government has long been suspicious of the international
community and its aid. Fractious ties have worsened in the last few
years since Western nations accused it of backing Somali insurgents and
expelling U.N. peacekeepers on its border with Ethiopia.
Eritrea, admired by the West in the years after independence as a
shining example of post-liberation war African countries, has also
fallen out with Western donors over its human rights record.
Asmara denies accusations of abuses and says Western nations have long
favoured Ethiopia -- both during Eritrea's liberation war and the
subsequent border conflict with Addis Ababa.
One of Africa's youngest and smallest nations, Eritrea also has one of
the continent's largest armies. At least 320,000 are in service,
according to World Bank estimates.
Eritrea's ruling party says it uses Eritreans doing mandatory national
service for development and commercial projects. Many more also man the
highly militarised border with Ethiopia.
The World Bank says there are few private companies in Eritrea and that
its government uses price controls and regulations to manage
macroeconomic imbalances.
But Eritrea is not alone.
Its frosty relations with the West have forced it to look elsewhere for
allies and it has turned to Gulf States, China and some regional
players. Many are old friends from the independence war.
FUTURE
The Red Sea state is believed to be rich in gold and base metals, but
analysts say it is likely to be several years before mining companies
are ready to start production.
In his May interview with Reuters, Isaias said the first gold mine would
begin producing by the end of 2009, starting a metals industry with
"huge" reserves and potential to drive development.
He also said his government would take time with its foreign partners to
develop mining both to maximise social benefits for Eritreans and avoid
the so-called "resource curse" that has bedevilled other African
nations.
Eritrea has one of the lowest per capita incomes in the world at $200,
but has better social indicators, according to the World Bank. It is
also heavily dependent on remittances sent back by tens of thousands of
Eritreans who live abroad.
The International Monetary Fund says growth is projected at 1.2 percent
this year after 1.3 percent in 2007
With a largely agricultural economy that is being hampered by the
ongoing deadlock with Ethiopia, some analysts say the country's
self-reliance policy could cost it dear.
"The government simply cannot afford to scare away donors, NGOs, and
U.N. agencies (not to mention foreign investors) by adhering to a
nationalist narrative based on 'stubbornness'," said Christian
Bundegaard, a research fellow at the Programme for Strategic and
International Security Studies, in a 2004 article on Eritrea. (Editing
by Clar Ni Chonghaile) (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have
your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/)
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