Imagine the Strategic Partnership between Asmara and Moscow

By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh

In this extremely poor Eritrea nation located in the Horn of Africa, with a population of 3.6 million, what factors could attract to strengthen cooperation in the spheres highlighted by Russian President Vladimir Putin during a meeting with President of the State of Eritrea Isaias Afwerki at the Kremlin.

According to reports from the Kremlin on May 31, Putin referred to the fact that Eritrea has recently marked 30 years of independence. This was when the two countries established diplomatic relations too.

Russia is attracted due to its highly strategic location. Eritrea is bordered to the northeast and east by the Red Sea, Sudan to the west, Ethiopia to the south, and Djibouti to the southeast. The undemarcated border with Ethiopia is the primary external issue currently facing Eritrea. Geopolitical history informed us that Eritrea’s relations with Ethiopia turned from that of cautious mutual tolerance, following the 30-year war for Eritrean independence, to a deadly rivalry that led to the outbreak of hostilities from May 1998 to June 2000 that claimed approximately 70,000 lives from both sides.

Despite the differences between Ethiopia and Eritrea, Russia maintains good relations with the two. But the main significance, as stressed during the meeting, was trade and economic relations which deserve primary attention. There could only be a few, of course not a lot, of potential in many areas. From our studies, agriculture makes up 11 per cent of the wider economy’s value and is the main economic activity in Eritrea.

In 2013, the pickup in growth had been attributed to the commencement of full operations in the gold and silver Bisha mined by Canadian Nevsun Resources, the production of cement from the cement factory in Massawa and investment in Eritrea’s copper and zinc. Chinese are very active in the mining sector, and the Australians operate Colluli potash mining. In 2020, the IMF estimated Eritrea’s GDP at $2.1 billion.

With that economic background, however, Russia sees an opportunity to develop trade and economic ties between the two countries. “Of course, we must, first of all, pay attention to the development of trade and economic ties, here we have good prospects in many areas,” Putin said.

As expected, there was a display of passion for packing official documents. After a series of substantive consultations on partnership and intensive preparations between Asmara and Moscow, the delegation signed several intergovernmental agreements. “I am sure that our talks today will be successful and will benefit the development of relations between the Russian Federation and Eritrea,” Putin stressed.

The trade turnover between Russia and Eritrea in 2022 amounted to $13.5 mln, including $11.5 mln from wheat exports, according to materials for the talks between Putin and Isaias Afwerki in the Kremlin.

“The trade turnover between Russia and Eritrea in 2022 amounted to $13.521 mln (exports: $12.745 mln, including $11.5 mln – wheat (27,500 tons); imports: $776,000),” the statement said.

In 2021, the trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $9.314 mln. Exports of wheat amounted to $8.125 mln, oil products – $175,000, and sulfates – $888,000. At the same time, imports of ready-made clothes reached $126,000.

According to the statement, Eritrea is highly interested in strengthening ties with Ural Automobile Plant and Kamaz. In 2018, Kamaz delivered 56 cars and 5 buses valued at around $5 million to Eritrea.

“In my view, the global order, which is on the cusp of a radical transformation, requires an objective appraisal and mutual consultations on the timeless subject matter and phenomena of paramount importance and significance. The common assessment that we undertake will, in turn, revitalise the formulation of programmes and partnerships that we chart on,” Isaias Afwerki said during the meeting.

Isaias Afwerki believes that Russia was the primary competitor and rival of the policy of encirclement and containment by the forces of domination from the early 1990s, and its global impact in the past 30 years was considerable indeed. Russia did not undertake, at the outset, all the necessary preparations for effective resistance.

An integrated and comprehensive strategy of resistance was not accordingly set in motion. But with time, as the latent policy of containment against China becomes more transparent, international awareness of the free people has increased.

“It is imperative to expand and deepen this awareness, chart out a comprehensive strategy and concrete plans that encompass all fields, create dynamic mechanisms, marshal the necessary resources to ascertain the advent of and transit to a civilised international order of mutual respect, cooperation, complementarity and prosperity, where justice and the rule of law prevail. This is not an option but an obligation,” he explicitly pointed out to Putin.

It is important to remember that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited Eritrea in January 2023. He said the agenda for Russia-Eritrea cooperation focuses on implementing potential joint projects, including the logistics hub in Asmara. At a meeting at that time, Afwerki and Lavrov also discussed the radical changes in the international situation and key directions for the development of Russian-Eritrean relations. Lavrov reported to Putin about the results of his African tour at a Security Council meeting.

Afwerki has been president since 1993, when Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia. He is the first and the only person to hold the post. Sergey Lavrov visited Eritrea in January as he toured Africa. The commercial activities revolve around this strategic location as a transit point, and the strategic location also makes the country prime for an increased military presence. This is the strategic importance for Russia.

Lavrov spoke extensively about economic cooperation. According to him, Russia’s truck maker KAMAZ was already working in Eritrea, supplying its products to that country, as was Gazprombank Global Resources, which was building cooperation in the banking sector. In the same year, 2018, concrete talks were held to build a logistics centre at the port of Eritrea, which makes the world’s class logistics and services hub for maritime transportation through the Suez Canal and is definitely set to promote bilateral trade.

Still that same year, Eritrea was interested in opening a Russian language department at one of the universities in the capital of the country, Asmara. Lavrov further indicated: “We agreed to take extra measures to promote promising projects in the sphere of mining and infrastructure development and to supply specialized transport and agricultural equipment to Eritrea.”

In April 2022, Eritrea’s top diplomat, Osman Saleh, made a quick reciprocal visit to Moscow to receive honour and congratulations for opposing the resolution in New York. That was in March 2022; Eritrea was one of the countries who voted against the resolution condemning Russia over the situation in Ukraine at the United Nations.

Eritrea is now a member of the African Union. The Eritrean government previously withdrew its representative to the African Union to protest the AU’s alleged lack of leadership in facilitating the implementation of a binding border decision demarcating the border between Eritrea and Ethiopia. Eritrea is also a member of the United Nations.