Political Will, Self-Reliance, and Economic Development: The Eritrean Experience

With the exception of J. Firebrace and S. Holland (1985), no one has paid any attention to the development implications of the long drawn out conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia. Yet there are positive development lessons to be drawn from the Eritrean struggle that are relevant to both Third World countries, development academics and practitioners, and donor agencies and governments. After a brief consideration of the political philosophy of the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF), the author examines the socioeconomic and technological base of the Eritrean struggle from the perspective of its development implications. Because of the particular colonial history of Eritrea, the EPLF as an agent of change has had to assume the multidimensional roles of the military, the secular intelligentsia and the entrepreneur. The pragmatic development policies of the EPLF are consistent with orthodox development theory in at least two areas: institutional change and the development of human capital. The EPLF’s activities in these two areas have been principally guided by the policy of self-reliance. Likewise, political commitment to development on the part of the EPLF is an essential ingredient in the development process. Ref.