From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Wed Oct 21 2009 - 13:32:04 EDT
INTERVIEW-Eritrean president says mining will not boost economy
Wed Oct 21, 2009 3:02pm GMT
* Mineral sector had been cast economy's saviour
* President warns against so-called 'resource curse'
By Jeremy Clarke
ASMARA, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Eritrea's long-serving president, Isaias Afwerki,
dismissed suggestions that a highly anticipated mining boom was about to
boost the economy and change the lives of ordinary Eritreans.
"It is more than misguided, it is cheating and deceiving people," he told
Reuters in an interview on Wednesday on the outskirts of the capital,
Asmara.
"I personally don't think that gold is going to change much in the
performance of the economy. It is a distortion about the future."
Much hope was pinned on the potential of the nation's mineral sector, whose
agriculture-based economy has suffered from the effects of irregular
rainfall and the global crisis.
Apart from small-scale artisan mining and minor extraction by Italians
during the colonial era, Eritrea's mining potential is unexploited. Bigger
miners were scared off by the 1998-2000 border war with Ethiopia.
Gold, zinc and copper are the main interests.
The Bisha project, run by Canadian explorer Nevsun Resources (NSU.TO:
<http://af.reuters.com/stocks/quote?symbol=NSU.TO> Quote) with a 40 percent
stake, is Eritrea's most advanced project. Its 27 million tonnes of ore are
believed to contain 1 million ounces of gold, 700-800 million pounds of
copper and 1 billion pounds of zinc. Production is expected by late 2010.
Isaias insisted, however, that proper economic development, and tangible
improvements for Eritrea's 4 million people, required more than just
striking gold.
"(Gold) is not a resource that will dramatically change the quality of life
in this country," he said. "It would be very damaging to expect improvement
in the economy because we are mining gold. I have never entertained that
idea."
Foreign miners insist on the sector's potential, but Isaias cautioned that
it must be developed slowly and carefully to prevent the so-called
"resources curse" where oil and minerals have spawned corruption and
violence elsewhere in Africa. (Editing by Helen Nyambura-Mwaura; Editing by
Ron Askew)
C Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
FACTBOX - Key quotes from Eritrean president
Wed Oct 21, 2009 3:19pm GMT
Oct 21 (Reuters) - Eritrea's president Isaias Afwerki spoke to Reuters for
more than an hour on Wednesday in a scenic safe house on the outskirts of
the capital, Asmara.
Following are key quotes:
ECONOMY:
* "It may take decades to really evaluate achievements in food security,
migrating from rain-fed agriculture into irrigated agriculture, introducing
the most advanced technologies, transforming and changing the systems that
have been in place for so long. It is a very difficult task."
* On mixed economic assessment from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) -
"They make judgments on very limited knowledge and the government of Eritrea
has been very skeptical all along of comments, judgments, suggestions that
come from the IMF. I personally don't take them seriously."
GOLD MINING HOPES:
* "I personally don't think that gold is going to change much in the
performance of the economy. It is a distortion about the future."
"(Gold) is not a resource that will dramatically change the quality of life
in this country."
"It would be very damaging to expect improvement in the economy because we
are mining gold. I have never entertained that idea."
AID ORGANISATIONS AND SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS:
* "(Crisis response is) money making for them. It's not solving problems.
It's a collaboration of domestically corrupt special interest groups with
international mafia that have a big interest in publicising hunger and other
crises."
UNITED STATES:
* Obama government - "It's too soon to make a judgment."
* Diplomatic relations - "Why would they bother (to contact us)? We are a
very small country and they are a superpower. We cannot expect the United
States to bother about Eritrea."
SOMALIA:
* "It is not an option to impose a government from outside in Mogadishu and
declare that government to be a government of all Somalia. You cannot impose
a peacekeeping force in one city and say there is a government."
* "For the parties who are a part of the problem to come with the solution
is unthinkable. The experience of the last 20 years is proof to that."
* "The United States (and others) getting involved in Somalia because of
what they call terrorism is a problem. In Somalia it is distorting the facts
on the ground and probably fueling undesired external intervention from
neighbouring countries."
* "All these accusations (about Eritrea destabilising Somalia) have nothing
to do with the reality on the ground. It's a joke."
ON WESTERN INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES AND ACCUSATIONS:
* "It is sometimes very perplexing for me. Why all these lies? Why do you
have to go and cook such statistics and make statements about the reality in
Eritrea when you don't even know what's going on in this country?
* "Why these accusations about Eritrea's role in this region when there is
no fact to prove what is being claimed?
THOUSANDS FLEEING ERITREA:
* "They will come back. They are going for a picnic. They will come back one
day."
ALLEGED ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT IN AUGUST:
* "It's a fantasy. It's an insanity . I have never worried."
LOOMING SANCTIONS:
* "If you have evidence come up and show me . It's not a matter of worrying
or not worrying, scared or not scared, that's a different matter. We need to
talk about facts."
PRESS FREEDOM:
* "You can no longer persuade people that there is freedom of press
(anywhere in the world)."
ON DISSIDENCE:
"I don't need someone to tell me when I make a mistake. This is my
politically culture. I don't expect anyone to come and tell me I have made a
mistake. I don't need anyone to bully me and push me around to correct my
mistake.
DEMOCRACY IN ERITREA:
* "I have never said this is a successful democracy (because democracy has
so many definitions)."
* "We are trying to build the foundations for a viable nation, and when we
do we allow every constructive citizen to contribute in a meaningful way
with whatever resources he has."
LEADERSHIP AFTER ISAIAS:
*"Only someone with supernatural powers knows that." (Reporting by Jeremy
Clarke)
C Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved
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