By Tim Craddock
This is a useful analysis of the history of the Eritrean government and the fraught regional relationships in the horn of Africa, and overview of the influence of western mining companies in Eritrea’s gold mining industry.
As an accessible primer to the recent history and of Eritrea and its political backdrop, this is a concise and helpful book. Its surveys the history and relationships between western (mainly Canadian) mining companies and the brutal Eritrean government under president Isaya Afwerki, who has ruled over the impoverished land since independence in 1993.
It also describes the troubled relationship between Eritrea, Somalia and Ethiopia and sets out the human rights abuse endemic across Eritrea, including a national service which is little more than indentured labour. It sets the context and describes the occupation of western Tigray and the machinations of the respective powers in the area.
The portrait of Isaias Afwerki presents an autocratic and despotic leader, who betrayed early signs of being progressive. A new constitution had been drawn up in 1997 but was never enacted and proposed elections cancelled. Afwerki has moved from being described by Bill Clinton as a “renaissance African leader” to leading a country where press freedom is non-existent and the national service regime is seen to have been used by the mining companies as a source of labour, with widespread labour abuses. Economic development in mining and agriculture has been undermined by the continuing regional instability and Eritrea’s engagement in various wars and disputes, including the brutal occupation of Tigray.
It is also interesting to read how the relevant mining companies have used their influence to seek to project a more favourable image of Eritrea in the international community which the author suggests is the result of their cynical interests rather than a positive view that Eritrea is working to develop economically. Touati describes well the engagement of Nevsun, the Canadian mining company, add also the various corporate restructurings which have attended its history.
She sets out the case against Nevsun by three Eritrean refugees in the Supreme Court of British Columbia in Canada. They argued they had been forced to work at the Bisha mine in Eritrea under the national service obligation, and subjected to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. There were complex legal arguments on both sides. The Supreme Court rejected Nevsun’s argument that the “act of state” doctrine prevented the Canadian courts from having authority over a matter in another country i.e. Eritrea. The case subsequently broadened into fifty seven defendants bringing proceedings against Nevsun but a confidential financial settlement meant the legal issues were not formally decided. That proved a good outcome for Nevsun, who had been acquired prior to the settlement by one of China’s leading mining companies Zijin mining group.
The book though does have a touch of the undergraduate essay, in that it reads more as a polemic rather than a fact-based, dispassionate analysis. The legacy of colonialism in the Horn of Africa is highly troubled with unstable countries lacking infrastructure, governance and economic development. Western companies will of course exploit mineral and other opportunities. They need to operate in unstable political environments. Enlightened companies will maximise their influence to the betterment of the local population and broader economic development. That may require unpalatable trade-offs with authoritarian governments and rulers where human rights are regarded with indifference. There is a case for progressive engagement to drive broader and more beneficial changes. There was little sense in the book of a more balanced analysis to enable the reader to consider different perspectives.
Touati recognises there is complexity to the issues she describes. In her conclusion, she notes that the heads of state and the warlords were not the creations of Nevsun. She does though go on to say that “in view of what has just been unfolded, through the actions of companies registered in this (Canada) country and some of its nationals, Canada bears direct responsibility for the perpetuation of the Eritrean inferno and the genocide of the Tigrayans”.
That is a broad and damning statement, But one I found hard to accept on the basis of the evidence and arguments in the book; without doubt the human rights abuses in Eritrea and the violence in Tigray and the cost in terms of people killed and displaced are truly appalling. But to move to a conclusion that Canada – and those mining companies – had direct responsibility reached beyond the evidence presented.
Would I recommend the book? For those with a sketchy knowledge of the recent history politics and national tensions in the Horn of Africa, this is a helpful, easy to read and succinct review. It would have benefitted from greater analytical rigor to enable a broader and more balanced appreciation of the issues and challenges for Eritrea and the region.
But it stimulates interest and encourages a broader range of reading and insight into such a strategically significant and volatile part of the world.
Eritrea’s Gold Rush – Western mining companies, regional wars and human rights abuses in Africa review by Charlotte Touati. Published by Bloomsbury.
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