From: Yemane Natnael (yemane_natnael@yahoo.com)
Date: Fri Jul 18 2008 - 20:50:53 EDT
Economic self-reliance cools support for post-war Eritrea
July 18, 2008
By Jack Kimball
You can hear the ping of metal strking metal and the buzz of wood being
cut before you even enter Medebr market in the capital of Eritrea,
Amsara.
Inside, a cacophony of hammering and sawing assails the ears. 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 he carves from these remnants of Eritrea's wars are sold to local hairdressers.
"Self-reliance is very important," says the veteran of Eritrea's 1998-2000 border conflict with neighbouring Ethiopia.
Seid, like many Eritreans, feels a steely pride in the government's
self-reliance policy, a legacy of Eritrea's 30-year independence war
with Ethiopia, the top US ally in the region.
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, the enforced policy became an enduring
legacy. But it has put Eritrea - home to about 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In the past three years, the Asmara government has repealed the permits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 internal affairs and create a
culture of dependency.
Equal partnership
Eritrea's tradition of self-reliance comes vividly to life in the
Medebr market. Empty oil drums are recycled to make traditional ovens
for cooking injera - the spongy bread eaten in Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Artisans construct intricate Christian crosses. Others pound away at
sizzling scrap metal, shaping it into hoes for the planting season.
President Isaias Afwerki said 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," said
Afwerki. "Self-reliance is preparing yourself for partnership: equal
partnership."
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 UN peacekeepers on its border with Ethiopia.
Eritrea, which was admired by the West in the years after independence
as a shining example of a post-liberation war African country, 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 in 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 troops are in service,
according to World Bank estimates.
Eritrea's ruling party says it uses citizens doing mandatory national
service for development and commercial projects and to 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.
Eritrea's frosty relations with the West have forced it to look elsewhere for allies.
But Eritrea is not alone. It has turned to the Persian Gulf states,
China and some regional players. Many are old friends from the
independence war.
Stubborn policy
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 any 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 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 incomes per capita in the world at $200
(R1 481), but it has good social indicators, according to the World
Bank.
It is also heavily dependent on remittances sent by tens of thousands of Eritreans who are living abroad.
The International Monetary Fund says growth is projected at 1.2 percent
this year, a fractional drop from 1.3 percent last year.
With a largely agricultural economy that is hampered by the deadlock
with Ethiopia, some analysts say the country's self-reliance policy
could cost it dearly.
"The government simply cannot afford to scare away donors,
non-governmental organisations and UN 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, an
independent research institute in Geneva.
http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=4512413&fSectionId=552&fSetId=662
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