From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Thu Oct 22 2009 - 10:04:37 EDT
Eritrean president says mining will not boost economy Wed Oct 21, 2009
3:05pm GMT
By Jeremy Clarke
ASMARA (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 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.
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