ERI-NEWS
Bi-Weekly Newsletter
Prepared by the Press Section of thePermanent Mission of the State of Eritrea to AU
and UNECA
President Isaias Afwerki’s Interview on the Government’s
Priorities for 2018
In the second-part of the interview withlocal media on 20 January 2018,
President Isaias Afwerki stated that thecountry has achieved substantial
progress in the sectors of education,
health, water supply, food security as
well as in certain areas of physical infrastructure. Bottlenecks in other criticalinfrastructure and related factors have ogy and human capital – which is beinghowever negatively affected growth in undertaken – as well as sober assessmanufacturing, tourism and fisheries, ment of the experiences of the past
whose performance remains far below years, President Isaias emphasized.
our aspirations and endowments,
In responding to the question of thePresident Isaias underlined. Government
Government of Eritrea’s priority areas
focus in the medium term will accordfor 2018, President Isaias stated that
ingly be geared to the revitalization ofinvestment in water infrastructure
these sectors to augment their contribupursued in the past years will now betion to the country’s economic
supplanted with utilization of the accugrowth. This will require marshalling
mulated resources for irrigated agricultthe requisite capital investment, technolContd. on page 2.

Eritrean Delegation Participated at the 30th African Union Summit
An Eritrean delegation led by thePermanent Representative to the African
Union (AU) and UN Economic
Commission for Africa (UNECA),
Ambassador Araia Desta, participated at
30th African Union Summit held underthe theme ‘Winning the Fight Against
Corruption: A Sustainable Path toAfrica’s Transformation’. The Summit
was held from 22-29 January 2018 at the Chairmanship of the Union to the PresiHeadquarters of the AU in Addis Ababa. dent of Rwanda, H.E. Paul Kagame.
At the Summit, the President of Guinea, The delegation expressed Eritrea’sviews and perspectives on important
H.E. Alpha Condé handed over theContd. on page 3
Vol 5. Issue 77, 05 February 2018

Vol 5. Issue 77
05 February 2018
In this issue

Hungarian Delegation
Conducted a Working 2
Visit to Eritrea
British Artist Joss
Stone Performed inAsmara

2Eritrea and China
Signed an 87 Million 3
Dollars Loan
Agreement
Dutch Action is
Unwarranted and 4
Unacceptable
Annual Eritrean
Festival inAustralia

4

Shannon-Ogbani
Abeda Puts Eritrea on 5
the Map at the 2018
Comedian Tiffany
Haddish Connects
With Her Eritrean
Roots
Contact Addresses:
Tel: +251-116620052
Fax:+251-116620011
Email:eritreanaumission@
gmail.com
P.o.Box: 5527
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Eritrean Mission toAU& ECA@EritreaAU5

Page 2Eri-News

President Isaias Afwerki’s Interview... Contd. from page 1ure in an incremental manner. The Government willalso accord high priority to investments in agroindustries, fisheries and education, President Isaias
Afwerki underlined.
In regard to salary increments in the Civil Service,President Isaias stated that the scheme – implemented
partially for some categories in 2016/17 – will be
implemented this year with retroactivity for 2017. In
this respect, President Isaias noted that what is ofparamount importance is not increment of nominal
salary per se, but the eventual purchasing power ofthe civil servants. To be meaningful, the scheme must
therefore be accompanied by appropriate fiscal andmonetary policies for controlling inflation, stabilizing
the exchange rate, as well as regulating the balance ofpayments. In terms of housing, President Isaias statedthat housing projects implemented in the past years
have lagged far behind the substantial demand in all
cities and towns. The Government will thus embark

Hungarian Delegation Conducted aWorking Visit to Eritrea
A Hungarian Delegation led by Dr. István
Mikola, Minister ofState at the Ministry ofForeign Affairs andTrade, paid a threeday working visit toEritrea.

in 2018 on concrete projects to address the housing
demand in the coming years in a phased and plannedmanner.
President Isaias underlined that the illicit migration ofEritrean youth was linked to the subversive agenda of“regime change” pursued by certain quarters. Murky
networks, intelligence agencies of certain countries
and even some UN institutions have been working in aconcerted manner and are implicated in this racket oforganized crime. The Government of Eritrea has been
urging the UN to undertake an independent investigation of this abominable crime since 2013; and this plea
was reiterated last month to the current UN SecretaryGeneral, President Isaias stated. The youth – who arevictims of this crime – as well as parents and society
at large need to be sensitized on the underlying
motives and objectives of this subversive campaign,
President Isaias stressed.

British Artist Joss Stone Performed inAsmara
Joss Stone, the British singer, song-writer and actress,
performed at the historic Cinema Asmara on the 23rdof January 2018. Her concert in Asmara was part ofher total world tour. Eritrea is her 136th country ofperformance.

During the visit, thedelegation met with
the Eritrean Ministersof Foreign Affairs,
Agriculture,
Health,Education and Information, and the Head of PFDJ Economic Affairs, andheld discussions on issues of mutual concern. The
two countries reached agreements to cooperate in thesectors of agriculture and health.

Vol 5. Issue 77, 05 February 2018

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Eritrean Delegation Participated at the 30th African Union Summit… Contd. from page 1
issues discussed at the meetings held at the level of
Permanent
Representatives(15-24January),
Ministers (25-27 January) and Heads of State andGovernment (on 28 and 29 January).

by the Ethiopian Government, and the denial of visasby the host Government to diplomatic staff assigned tothe Mission constitutes a flagrant violation of the Host
Agreement and decisions of the AU Policy Organs. In
this regard, the delegation urged the AU policy organs
to take strong measures to stop the violations andresolve the visa denials.
On the sidelines of the Summit, the delegation met
with representatives of states and exchanged views on
issues of mutual concern and on strengthening
bilateral relations.

The report of the African Commission on Human andPeople’s Rights mentioned that Eritrea has submitted
its reports on the implementation of the African
Charter on Human and People’s Rights. On its part,the delegation of Eritrea reaffirmed that Eritrea
considers the promotion and protection of humanrights as the priority of priorities, and that theGovernment is committed to strengthen constructive
engagement with the Commission.

Through the decisions adopted at the end of its
deliberations, the Summit:♦♦

The Delegation of Eritrea proposed for the organs ofthe Union, especially those with human rights ♦mandates, to be free of dependence on externalfinancial assistance that exposes them to undue ♦interferences, and their budgets to be fully funded by
the contributions of member states.
The Delegation underscored that the violations of the ♦immunities and privileges of the members of theEritrean Permanent Mission to the AU and UNECA

established a Single African Air Transport
Market (SAATM). 23 Member States of the AU
have already joined SAATM. A call was madeon the remaining countries to join SAATM,
decided to adopt the Agreement establishing theAfrican Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA),an Extraordinary Summit to be held on 21March 2018 in Kigali, Rwanda,
adopted 8 Legal Instruments including aProtocol on Free Movement of People,
elected ten Member States to serve a two-year
term as members of the Peace and Security
Council of the AU,
decided to cancel the mid-year Summits starting
2019, and to hold only one summit per year inJanuary.

Eritrea and China Signed an 87 Million Dollars Loan Agreement
The Eritrean Government and the People’s Republicof China (PRC) signed, on 18 January 2018 in
Asmara, an over 87 million dollars loan agreement.
Finance Minister Berhane Habtemariam from theEritrean side and Ambassador Yang Zigang of thePRC signed the agreement.
The loan will be used to construct the first phase of
the 29 km long asphalt road connecting Adi-Guaedadwith Habela.
Minister Berhane underlined the strong relations

Vol 5. Issue 77, 05 February 2018

Eritrea and the China shareand expressed appreciationon the Chinese cooperation in development ofprogramsinEritrea.
Ambassador Yang on hispart said that the agreement is part of the growing
economic, political andsocial cooperation between
the two countries.

Page 4Eri-NewsPress Statement - Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Eritrea
Dutch Action is Unwarranted and Unacceptable
On 16 January 2018, the Dutch
Foreign Ministry expelled
Eritrea’s Charge d'Affaires tothe country, Mr. Tekheste
Ghebremedhin, invoking untenable explanations for its
unacceptable act.

relevant information to its citizens in the country.

The letter that the Minister of Foreign Affairs sent to
the Dutch Parliament on the case indeed illustrates
the banality of the whole affair.
On the one hand, the Minister states: "the Cabinet
recognizes that no judge has yet recorded proof ofwrongful or punishable offenses by the Eritrean
embassy office in The Hague". And yet, the Ministeralludes to "the broadcast of Argo (Dutch radiostation)” and to the “... Motion of two parliamentarians requesting the government to close the Eritrean
embassy" to explain and justify this unwarranted andunfriendly act.
Eritrea's levying of 2% Rehabilitation and Recovery
tax in the Diaspora, enacted in accordance with thelaws of the country in 1994, is a legitimate andsovereign act that cannot be misconstrued, by any
stretch of imagination, as a contravention of theVienna Protocol on Diplomatic Relations. (There areindeed some countries that levy full income tax fromtheir citizens abroad). Tax collection is carried out
through normative and appropriate transactional
modalities. The Consulate naturally provides
ordinary consular services, including the provision of

Needless to emphasize, the Rehabilitation and Recovery Tax Law
contains explicit clauses on thepenalties that apply for tax
evasion. These measures are notonerous by any standards. A citizen who fails or opts
not to pay the 2% Rehabilitation Tax is entitled to all
his/her rights and consular services. But he/she will
forfeit business license and land entitlement rights in
the home country.
In the event, the designation of Eritrea's Charged'affaires as persona non grata constitutes an arbitrary
and provocative act that has no consonance with theVienna Protocol of Diplomatic Relations. We mustalso recall previous unfriendly incidents taken by theDutch authorities against Eritrea in the past few years.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Eritrea
rejects the hollow accusations leveled against its
Consular Office in the Netherlands. The Dutch nonresident Ambassador to Eritrea has been summoned toexplain the unfriendly acts of her government. The
Ministry of Foreign Affairs is naturally considering
appropriate reciprocal measures that it will have totake to partially redress the wrong.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Asmara25 January 2018

Annual Eritrean Festival in Australia
The 18th annual Eritrean Festival in Australia washeld in Melbourne from 12 to 15 January 2018. The
annual Festival in which a number of nationals,
Australian government dignitaries, members of the
diplomatic Corps as well as friends of Eritrea tookpart, featured pictorial exhibition depicting Asmara’sarchitecture, seminar on the objective situation in thehomeland, cultural and artistic performances, workshops on varied topics as well as sports competitions.

Vol 5. Issue 77, 05 February 2018

Page 5Eri-News

Shannon-Ogbani Abeda Puts Eritrea on the Map at the 2018 Winter Olympics
The 21-year-old Alpine skier, Shannon-Ogbani
Abeda, made history as the first athlete to compete
for Eritrea at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang,South Korea.
The Calgary-based computer science student has
been receiving support from Eritrea and the Eritrean
community in Canada since 2012 when he decided torepresent Eritrea at the inaugural 2012 Winter Youth
Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria.
“Eritrea was a country that fought for independence
for almost 30 years, and they’re very proud of me for coaching and get the Eritrean community on somebeing able to carry on my roots and my heritage,” he skis,” he said.
told CBC News. “My main goal is to put Eritrea on
Shannon-Ogbani Abeda will join Nigerian bobsled
the map,” he added.
team and Ghanaian skeleton athlete to fly high theBorn in Fort Alta, Canada, Shannon-Ogbani Abeda flags of African countries at the Winter Olympics inhas visited Eritrea twice and the last visit was in Pyeongchang, South Korea this month.
2014. “Right now my focus is to go to the Olympics,
Adapted from an article published on:
but afterwards I’d like to finish school, do someface2faceafrica.com

Comedian Tiffany Haddish Connects With Her Eritrean Roots
Comedian and Actress Tiffany Haddish visited
Eritrea, her father’s country of origin, in January.
Here are excerpts from an interview she gave about
her visit.
“I feel great. So far it has been amazing. When I
first got here my whole family came to greet mein the airport; all of these people that I haveheard so much about but never had a chance tomeet. They greeted me with the typical ‘ilililil’uproar. I am staying in this real beautiful hotel,
the Asmara Palace. It makes me feel like a realprincess.”“My father told me many stories about myextended family. And when I look at them I see
my father.”“By the time I walked
in the shores of theRed Sea I gotemotional. I finallyfelt at home. I told myself that this is where I
should have been along time ago. TheRed Sea water mademe feel great. It felt
like my heart wasbeing healed. I havebeen through somuch, and for long I
have been trying to figure out who I am. Now I
have a better understanding of why I am on thisearth and what my purpose is.”“We also visited the [Martyrs’] cemetery and thatwas the most beautiful experience to me. I have
“I see the people and I see myself in them. Thisbeen tirelessly around the city. I am happy to see
place gave me the chance to appreciate the real
all of the people walking peacefully. Wow, andmeaning of life.”
the food.…And then we got to Massawa andFor the full version of the interview: http://
stayed in this beautiful hotel, the Dahlak Hotel.”shabait.com/articles/q-a-a/25605-the-last-blackunicorn-is-in-eritrea
Vol 5. Issue 77, 05 February 2018