SEATTLE — A small country bordering Ethiopia, Djibouti and Sudan in the Horn of Africa, Eritrea is much less known than its neighbors. A possible reason is that while neighboring countries Ethiopia and Djibouti have boasted massive economic growth rates, Eritrea has failed to produce the same results. In 2016, it reported a 3.7 percent real GDP growth rate, a far cry from the growth rates reported by its neighbors Ethiopia (7.6 percent) and Djibouti (6.5 percent).
Many who have observed the notable economic progress seen in the latter two countries have asked, why is Eritrea poor? Common factors that are shared by nations in the Horn of Africa, such as climate, seem not to affect Ethiopia’s and Djibouti’s rising economies as much as they affect Eritrea.
So why is Eritrea poor? Many political analysts attribute the start of Eritrea’s economic woes to the border dispute the country had with Ethiopia, which turned into a full-scale war in 1998. Before the fact, Eritrea had a respectable average annual GDP growth of 7 percent. However, the dispute resulted in a drastic fall in Eritrean GDP growth: years after a ceasefire, Eritrea reported a 1-2 percent annual growth rate.
The country has not been able to fully recover since. Moreover, tensions with Ethiopia continue to take a toll on the economy, since most of the country’s agricultural resources and fertile lands are taken hostage by the border stalemate. The conflict has left large masses of land unutilized due to unexploded landmines planted during the war. The prime fertile agricultural regions of Gash-Barka and Debub, considered the “breadbaskets of Eritrea”, have not been sowed for years.
The dispute leaves much of Eritrea’s economic potential untapped, especially since agriculture has remained the country’s biggest sector. The agricultural sector is also the country’s biggest employer: two-thirds of the Eritrean population depends on farming for sustenance.
There are obvious challenges to Eritrea’s continued reliance on agriculture for economic progress. Besides the loss of unutilized fertile lands along the Eritrea-Ethiopia border, the Eritrean economy often suffers from climatic shocks. Farmers who live on sustenance from farming are vulnerable to unfavorable effects of droughts and environmental degradation. The Horn of Africa is often exposed to drastic climatic conditions, which proves inauspicious for farmers, who together with single-parent and female-headed households, comprise the most vulnerable segments of Eritrean society.
Challenges involving agriculture are formidable in themselves and are prime reasons why Eritrea experiences economic hardship, but do they answer the question of why is Eritrea poor?
Aside these external, uncontrollable factors, many who observe the politico-economic situation in Eritrea also suggest the country’s conscription policy as a reason for economic problems.
Conscription, or the compulsory enlistment of people in national service, invokes mass exodus from the country, say some analysts, which then subsequently depletes the national workforce. Conscription mandates many of Eritrea’s youth to take jobs that only pay less than $2 per day, a prospect much less attractive than fleeing to Europe.
“If you’re on national service, you can’t make money. It is killing opportunities as you can’t make money for your family. This is the main reason they go to Europe, logically,” National Union of Eritrean Youth and Students deputy chairman Okbay Berhe said.
Conscription has prompted many of young Eritreans to embark on dangerous journeys. In 2015, Eritreans were the third-biggest group of people who made the risky crossing of the Mediterranean to Europe, with an estimated 5,000 people leaving every month, a number only behind Syrians and Afghanis, both segments fleeing civic unrest.
The failing policy of conscription has diminished economic opportunities in Eritrea. “This is the main problem, not because people dislike the government or president, but because of their financial situation. There are many educated people who don’t have enough work. They don’t dislike national service, but there is no cutoff point. It is lifelong,” student nurse Solomon Beraki said.
There are many factors and government policies to blame for Eritrea’s poor state. However, life in Eritrea, while far from adequate, has been improving, particularly in the area of public health. In a continent that is ravished by HIV/AIDS infection, the prevalence of the virus in the country is at less than 1 percent.
The government has committed to investing in the welfare of its people: it maintains an extensive social safety net and declares itself committed to invest in the areas of food security, agricultural production, infrastructural and human resources development.
For President Isaias Afwerki’s government, the aim is not to answer the question of why is Eritrea poor. Rather, it aims to promote an atmosphere that aims to eliminate the need to ask the question in the first place. For this government, development starts in improving the living standards and access to basic needs of citizens.
Eritrea aims to live by the words of its National Charter: “If we do not lift people out of poverty and deprivation, safeguard their human and democratic rights and improve their material, cultural and spiritual lives, attaining independence will not amount to anything.”
– Bella Suansing
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Source link : https://www.borgenmagazine.com/why-is-eritrea-poor/
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Publish date : 2017-10-26 07:00:00
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