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Ethiopian Airlines will resume flights to Asmara after two decades of interruption. The Ethiopian Prime Minister has announced the imminent recovery, during the visit of the President of Eritrea Sunday in Addis Ababa. A breath of fresh air for Eritrea, whose economy is bloodless.
Closed and in the dirigiste economy, Eritrea ranks among the poorest countries in the world. The agricultural sector employs 80% of the active population, but the production is insufficient to meet the needs of the whole population .
To feed the state coffers, the country counts on the mining sector . Eritrea produces gold, copper and zinc. The only site in Bisha, where the three ores are mined and which is expected to close within three years, provides 40% of state revenue. With mines of silver and potash, the mining sector is the only one that drains foreign investment, especially Chinese.
The diplomatic turning point between Addis Ababa and Asmara goes train Eritrea to review the allocation of its public expenditure? So far, 25 per cent of them are devoted to the military budget.
The current economic dynamism of Ethiopia could also bring the Eritrean economy in its wake, especially as Addis Ababa, which has more access to the sea since the independence of Eritrea, should turn to the ports of Mbadawa and Assab, to break its dependence only port of Djibouti . Because the two capitals have decided not only a resumption of air traffic but also naval. No further details at the moment.
Eritrean opposition pending
The joint declaration of peace and the measures announced in its wake represent a step forward, the Eritrean opposition believes. But Mengisteab Asmerom, president of the Eritrean Democratic People's Party based in Frankfurt, worries about the lack of transparency of the Eritrean authorities
" We support the initiative taken by the new Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to accept and implement the Algiers Agreement and the Commission's decision on the border problem. And this without precondition. But for the moment there is no detail on this agreement. They say they have agreed to use the ports, the free movement of people, but we do not know exactly what the text contains .
" There is no transparency on the Eritrean side. Until yesterday, the authorities said they were going to sit down with the Ethiopian government and negotiate until the border was effectively demilitarized, but suddenly … after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed declared that he accepted the decision. border, they sent their delegation to Addis Ababa the following day. Things are going too fast and we, Eritreans, are not well informed about what is happening in our country.
► Rapprochement Eritrea-Ethiopia: "Eritrean President has no choice", according to Gérard Prunier
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