The West calls it the “North Korea of Africa”, and tries as much as possible to portray it as a rogue and recalcitrant state, deserving the ire of the world community. In reality, Eritrea, is perhaps the only truly independent country in Africa, and the only one that casts doubt on the white man’s obsession with recolonizing Africa. And that has everything to do with Eritrea’s self-reliance policy.

Eritrea’s path to self-reliance.

As soon as Eritrea won independence in 1993, the first act of the United States was to deliver a list of businesses and government departments that it wanted immediately privatized, but the Eritrean government rebuffed these demands.

By 1996, the government of Eritrea had ended all free distribution of food from foreign agencies, barely three years after independence. Not long after, around 2005, the government of Eritrea whilst guaranteeing “use rights” to all Eritreans, nationalized urban and rural land – again rebuffing US demands for outright privatization.

Barely four years after independence, Eritrea asked all but six aid providers to leave, including Oxfam and every religious organization. President Isaias said back then:

“It’s not that we don’t need the money, but we don’t want the dependence.”

President Isaias Afwerki, 1998

“Aid”, he argued, “subsidizes but corrupts the government, and blocks innovative solutions to problems, so that people do not seek out and use their own resources.”

By 2005, the country had completely stopped requesting financial assistance from the United States, and finally, fully cut off all foreign NGOs that were financially sponsored by the United States after 2006. Thus Between 2005 and 2007, Eritrea had rejected more than $200 million in aid, including food from the United Nations, development loans from the World Bank, and grants from international charities to build roads and deliver healthcare.

The US and Europe start targeting Eritrea

To say Eritrea’s actions surprised the US would be an understatement, with Journalists Johanna Mcgeary and Marguerite Michaels writing in Time as early as 1998:

The emergence of Eritrea as a working state in so short a time is a remarkable testament to self-reliance

Time, 1998.

This attempt to shift away from a relief-based economy to a self-reliant one was unprecedented in Africa. Until then, Africa was a ‘begging continent’ to where the West not only shipped food aid but especially dictated development policies.

Eritrea’s path in reverse was unprecedented. And for the sheer boldness of it, coming from a by then barely decade-old country, was unacceptably a sign of new times for Africa. This ruffled features in Washington. Eritrea was daring to show Africans how not to rely on foreign aid, but on themselves. President Isaias swore: “We need this country to stand on its two feet!”. Such a bold move. But there would be a price to pay.

Immediately, Western think tanks and media cocked their guns! The Los Angeles Times, unbelieving its eyes, and belittling Eritrea as a struggling, low-profile nation, exclaimed: “It’s turning down foreign aid!” The Economist, disparaging Eritrea’s self-reliance policy in April 2006, screamed: “A myth of self-reliance. In July of the same year, Britain’s BBC threw the gauntlet: “Self-reliance could cost Eritrea dear.

It was apparent from that point forward, that Eritrea’s policy of self-reliance was a red line for the West. Soon, Western leaders would start parroting defamatory propaganda about human rights, calling Eritrea a destabilizing force and/or terrorist threat –all sorts of lies to set the foundation for punishing Eritrea.

But it was until December 2009, that the punishment started, setting in motion what has since become a most vicious and unjustified campaign to cripple Eritrea for daring to show Africa the path to self-reliance. But why did the West fear Eritrea’s self-reliance policy? Because of the potential reverberations that its success would have on the region and the African continent.

Eritrea, a “bad good example“

The West’s fear was perhaps best summarized by then US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. In the leaked notes of a diplomatic cable of a meeting she held with Ronald McMullen – the then-Ambassador to Eritrea in June 2009, exposed by WikiLeaks, she describes Eritreas as:

A “bad good example” of governance.

Hillary Clinton, June 2009

Six Months later, in December 2009, they imposed the first major illegal sanctions on Eritrea.

The punishment had begun. And it has remained unrelenting for decades for as long as Eritrea has refused to bend and become, what they had earmarked it to be from since it gained independence: a vessel state for the West in the geo-strategic Horn of Africa region, wholly dependent on them.

In 2021, the United States Treasury imposed economic sanctions on the Eritrean ruling party, the armed forces, and several Eritrean businesses, institutions, and individuals. These were preceded by E.U. sanctions on Eritrea’s National Security Office. In each case, the target is either Eritrea’s patriotic leadership, self-reliant economy, or gallant Military. The goal is to isolate Eritrea across the polity of nations, choke its resilient economy, and mastermind regime change to abort its long march to self-reliance.

In all these, Eritrea’s mistake is trying to become self-reliant –  to reject food handouts. They considered this “good example” to be “bad” for Africa as it would set a precedent for the rest to shed off the vestiges of colonialism and chart their own destinies. If Eritrea succeeds, the rest will copy the example! Like Eritrea, they will reject aid, reject foreign presence in their countries, and basically become truly independent.

For example, the Congolese who today mine their cobalt to power electric vehicles in Europe but themselves walk on foot, will stop, and prioritize themselves. The Nigeriens who idly sit by, allowing the French to loot their Uranium to light 75% of bulbs in Paris, while they live in darkness would arise, and instead seek to light up their homes. Was such a wave of awakening across Africa the kind that the West and Europe were willing to risk? Not an ounce!

Targetted for daring to emulate Eritrea’s seal-reliance

For context, every African leader who draws close to Eritrea’s Isaias Afwerki and shows a willingness to emulate Eritrea’s self-reliance policy becomes a direct target. The West immediately triggers its sleeper cells to stir domestic discord, open armed conflict or coup, or indeed assassination.

On 5 Jan 2005, SPLA’s Garang visited Eritrea, his first to any country since signing Peace Agreement & swearing in as Sudan VP on July 9, 2005, looking to borrow some ideas about self-reliance. He died under unclear circumstances in a plane crash on July 30, 2005.

In 1997, two months after taking the presidency, Kabila of DRC [Zaire], Impressed by Eritrea & looking to learn, visited for 3 days in July. Months after returning home to Congo, a US-backed war broke out, claiming his life on Jan 16, 2001.

In 2018, Ethiopia’s Abiy Ahmed Ali visited Eritrea, following the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two brotherly nations. Two years later in 2020, a US-backed war broke out in Northern Ethiopia that nearly toppled PM Abiy, and has since left the country grappling with conflict.

Only recently, in December 2022, Kenya’s William Ruto paid a two-day official visit to Eritrea, at the invitation of President Isaias Afwerki, returning the invitation in February 2023. A few weeks later in March, widespread protests that seem to have the blessing of the US-led West broke out in Kenya.

Alpha Conde of Guinea visited Eritrea in February 2019, and shortly in May 2021. He was toppled four months later in September 2021. These are just a few examples of African leaders who paid the price for visiting Eritrea in the hope of learning about the self-reliance policy and emulating its ‘good example’ of governance.

Why they hate Eritrea’s Self-reliance Policy

Upon gaining independence in 1993, the US earmarked Eritrea to become its vessel state in the geo-strategic Horn of Africa region. But President Isaias, arguably one of Africa’s best military and political minds of the last two decades had other ideas. He envisioned an economy for his country that was less vulnerable to external shocks and less reliant on foreign aid and investment, a revolutionary idea behind his struggle for Eritrea’s statehood and the self-determination of the people of Eritrea, and which he was now hell-bent on cementing as a key tenet of Eritrea’s national ideology.

Eritrea’s crime, therefore, is pioneering and doggedly pursuing a self-reliance policy. It is the very antithesis of the West’s predatory, parasitic, and condensing development mode. The West wants African countries to expose their domestic entrepreneurs to unfair competition from foreign investors, liberalize trade, and privatize state-owned enterprises. By contrast, Eritrea’s self-reliance policy emphasizes domestic resource mobilization, import substitution, and state-led development.

The West also wants African countries to rely on foreign funding and expertise, particularly from Western countries and multilateral institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. By contrast, Eritrea’s self-reliance policy seeks to minimize dependence on external aid and expertise and instead emphasizes the need for domestic resources and knowledge to drive development. The country’s National Service Program, which requires all able-bodied Eritreans to serve in the military or other national service roles for a period, is the reason why it boasts a strong and disciplined workforce that supports the country’s development efforts.

The future will absolve Eritrea

Eritrea’s self-reliance program began as early as 1998 but accelerated sharply in 2005. Relying on its meager budget, material, and human resources, Eritrea has already achieved unprecedented levels of success. Measured on a variety of U.N. health indicators, including life expectancy, immunizations, and malaria prevention, Eritrea scores as high, and often higher, than most African countries. For example, in the first decade alone, Eritrea’s poverty rate fell from 64% in 1995 to 39% in 2002, and access to basic health services improved from 25% in 1991 to 68% in 2002.

Today, Eritrea remains a model country with home-built ideas about self-sustenance. Were there no vicious Western campaign to isolate it, pauperize its people and choke off the gov’t of President Isaias Afwerki, this country would be the most prosperous country in Africa.

Of course, the demonization has not subsided. And it won’t any time soon, provided Eritrea continues to resist the West’s demands and President Isaias refuses to capitulate. But the future will absolve Eritrea and President Isaias. A multi-polar world is already upon us. It is for truly independent countries such as Eritrea. It is now up to the rest of Africa to emulate Eritrea’s self-reliance policy.