Browsing: Eritrea

• The Horn of Africa has been grappling with the most severe drought in 40 years since late 2020.
• Rain-fed agriculture in parts of Kenya, Ethiopia, and Somalia worst hit as harvests drop to 70 percent of normal standards.
• A United Nations-backed conference raised $2.4 billion on May 24th to address famine in the Horn of Africa.

The worst drought in a-half-century is causing severe economic hit on economies in the Horn of Africa. This is due to the economies’ heavy reliance on agriculture, and other climate-vulnerable resources.

Drought has led to reduced rainfall and water, severely reducing agricultural production. Crops failed, and pasturelands dried up. As a result, millions of heads of livestock died due to a lack of water and fodder. Millions of farmers are experiencing significant crop losses and decreased livestock productivity. Consequently, huge populations are grappling with thinning incomes and food shortages.

Agricultural losses, food insecurity

Rain-fed …

Eritrea’s debt stands at 175 per cent of its GDP.

This is very high for the agriculture-based economy.

Eritrea is an outlier on the African continent. Unfortunately for the Horn of Africa country, it is not for good reasons. The nation has held on to a counterproductive form of government which has retrogressed the country economically and kept its people in poverty.

The country maintains a political system which is largely autocratic in nature and is not a democracy by any stretch of the imagination. The country was at war with Ethiopia and only recently managed to broker a peace deal which is no more than a truce to fight another day.

• Eritrea has a sovereign debt load that is nearly double the size of its GDP according to the World Bank and the IMF.
• The country has an archaic system of governance and is for that reason a negative

Those with access to digital infrastructure have not been as economically affected by the pandemic as those with no access.…