Eritrea only receives modest aid, but it is still important, according to the Financial Tracking Service of OCHA

And look who is the largest direct provider: it is Britain

The development of aid for Eritrea

The Eritrean government has always boasted that it achieved independence after fighting for 30 years without external backing. The claim was designed to highlight Eritrea’s self reliance and contrast this with Ethiopia’s reliance on aid from the Soviet Union, the USA and Cuba – among others. Eritrea’s claim was never true: Libya, China, Syria, Sudan and Somalia as well as Egypt backed Eritrean independence at various times. But most funding certainly came from the Eritrean people themselves. And they paid for their independence with their lives.

Fast forward to independence. After 1991 and the fall of Asmara and President Isaias at first allowed a range of international aid agencies – many of which had supported EPLF projects in the liberated territories – to operate. This was gradually eroded.

The expulsion of aid agencies

Eritrea’s expulsions of aid agencies occurred in waves, with the most significant and systematic removals taking place between 1997–1998 and again in 2005–2006.[1][2][3][4]

Key phases of expulsions

1997–1998: First major wave

  • In 1996, the government restricted international NGOs to working only in education and health.[5]
  • In 1997, it tightened rules further (e.g., high income tax on foreign staff staying over 183 days), prompting most international aid agencies to leave voluntarily but under pressure.[5]
  • By early 1998, the government formally requested remaining international NGOs to phase out operations within six months, effectively clearing most of them from the country.[2][1]
  • President Isaias Afwerki publicly declared during this period: “We reject assistance. We are in no need of humanitarian or charity aid…”[2]

2005–2006: Second major wave (including USAID)

  • On 11 May 2005, Eritrea issued a new NGO proclamation imposing severe restrictions (large bank deposits, bans on channeling UN/bilateral funds through NGOs, new levies).[4]
  • In mid-2005, the government ordered USAID to cease operations; by August 2005 the U.S. ambassador confirmed USAID had been asked to leave.[6][7][4]
  • Throughout 2005–2006, Eritrea expelled or forced closure of multiple other agencies:
    • By March 2006, at least nine international charities had been expelled in the preceding year; three more were ordered out that week.[8][3][9]
    • In 2006, all remaining international NGOs (e.g., Oxfam, Lutheran World Federation, Irish Self-Help, Norwegian Church Aid) were forced to close.[10]

Context

These moves were framed by the government as part of a self-reliance policy and assertion of national ownership over development, but they coincided with deteriorating relations with Western donors and the UN, especially after the 1998–2000 border war with Ethiopia and later tensions over peacekeeping and governance.[7][1][2]

  1. https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/47661/MMehretab_oodledata_temp_turnitintool_1174500135._935_1478676831_3625.pdf  
  2. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:1ff3a4c6-b910-4b21-8a78-bf3a16992498/files/mc214adb4d4754217ea686058d8e65503   
  3. https://reliefweb.int/report/eritrea/eritrea-expels-three-more-foreign-charities 
  4. https://associationofconcernedafricascholars.org/eritrea-reportedly-expels-usaid/  
  5. https://www.merip.org/2000/03/the-importance-of-self-reliance/ 
  6. https://africabulletin.com/eritrea-the-country-that-kicked-out-usaid/
  7. https://www.icnl.org/wp-content/uploads/Eritrea_Eritrea2006.pdf 
  8. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6122454.stm
  9. https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-2006-03-23-voa40/400197.html
  10. https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/186404.pdf