ERITREA: Donors Pledge 250 Million Dollars to New State

PARIS, Dic 24 (IPS) - The year-old state of Eritrea this week received 250 million dollars in pledges of assistance from international donors to help the country recover from 30 years of war.

Representatives of the Eritrean government led by Finance Minister Ato Haile Woldense met the donors this week in Paris during the first pledging session to discuss support for the newborn state's strategies for development in 1995.

Eritrea, situated in the Horn of Africa, won the 30-year war of liberation from Ethiopia in 1991, but became officially an independent state after a referendum in May 1993 enshrined their victory.

Although the sum was modest compared with bigger sums other borrowers usually receive and against the immense needs of Eritrea, Woldense said his government was satisfied with the response of their "partners in development".

He added that they had expected less than the concessional loans they got and expect more bilateral aid to come soon. Bilateral donors had expressed appreciation for the work now underway to build institutions and draw up a constitution which would allow free and fair elections in the future.

Eritrea's goal is to create a technologically advanced country, and a free, democratic and decentralised political system where the "fruits of development" are equitably shared, he said.

The government also won praise for attention being given to the restoration and protection of the environment. Donors emphasised as well the need to achieve food security, especially in the context of a rapidly growing population.

The minister said his country, still with a clean slate, has drawn up strategies that would prevent it from getting itself into the debt trap that several borrower countries have fallen into.

According to Roland Marchal, professor at the Paris-based College of Social Sciences specialising on Eritrea, the Asmera government has shown signs of concern over measures dictated by the international community that could tie its hands.

Woldense said his government has liberalised trade and is expanding trade relations with other countries. "We are an outward looking nation and we are keen to mobilise foreign investments," said Woldense.

Moreover, they are also counting on the private sector to boost economic development. They also intend to revitalise the agricultural sector that used to export food crops and recapture markets in the Middle East.

According to Woldense, another way to keep from becoming a poor and severely indebted country is to become masters of their own development programmes. "We must be owners of our own programmes."

© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service