Eritrea Must Seize the Moment: Political and Economic Reform After the Lifting of Sanctions
Now that the sanctions on Eritrea have been lifted, the country should look inward and pursue serious political and economic reforms. These reforms are needed to improve living standards, create a more stable future, and help reconcile a population that has grown more polarized in recent years.
Political Reform
The most important political step is to implement the 1997 Constitution. The government originally planned to put it into force that year. A constitution is essential for the rule of law, the protection of citizens, and the guarantee of basic rights and freedoms. Without one, there is no reliable legal order and no consistent standard of justice.
The border war interrupted that plan. In 2014 and 2016, President Isaias Afwerki publicly addressed the constitution and indicated a willingness to implement it. A decade later, however, that commitment has not been fulfilled.
Eritrea should also release prisoners who have been held without a fair trial.
Military Service Reform
National service also requires reform. Basic training should be limited to eighteen months. Serving personnel should work under clearer and more humane conditions: a forty-hour week, a maximum of eight hours a day with a one-hour break, a higher minimum wage, fifteen to twenty days of annual leave, and a service contract limited to five years, renewable only by choice. Basic service itself should not exceed five years.
Economic Reform
Economic reform is equally urgent. With sanctions removed, Eritrea should concentrate on raising prosperity for ordinary citizens. Long-standing restrictions on the economy need to be eased. Since the early 2000s, the government has banned private construction and limited bank withdrawals to 5,000 nakfa per person per month. Importing goods, including vehicles, has also been extremely difficult.
Many Eritrean entrepreneurs have left the country and built successful businesses abroad — hotels, construction firms, supermarkets, and hospitals in Uganda, gold-related enterprises in the UAE — while declining to invest at home. The question is why they cannot do the same in Eritrea. Lifting the ban on private construction would create jobs, ease the housing shortage, and attract foreign investment. A construction boom would also support transport, engineering, hotels, and fuel stations.
Import restrictions have driven up the cost of basic goods. Eritreans were once able to import cars more easily. Later rules required vehicles to be at least six years old, and restrictions tightened further after the 2015 currency change. Older cars now cost thousands of dollars. Easing these rules would lower prices, improve mobility, and create work in taxi, bus, and truck services.
Citizens should also be allowed to withdraw more than 5,000 nakfa a month. That amount is too small to start a business. A private banking sector operating alongside state-owned banks would further support growth.
Conclusion
The lifting of sanctions is only a beginning. Eritrea now needs to implement its constitution, reform national service, and open the economy to private investment and competition. Only then can the country build a more prosperous and just future for all its people.