More foreign companies are seeking business with Eritrea

With South African Breweries likely to enter the brewery and beverage markets in Eritrea, local companies will face a healthy competition

More foreign companies are seeking business with Eritrea

It seems the number of foreign companies seeking to do business in Eritrea have been picking up of late. With the government earning a reputation of being nearly "corruption-less" by Western investors, foreign businesses are finding Eritrea to be a safe and profitable investment opportunity in the region.

This week alone, we learned of three major foreign companies are seeking to do business with Eritrea:

1) South African Breweries is currently in negotiating to invest in the breweries and beverages sector in Eritrea. If they reach an agreement, this will create a number of jobs and bring in hard currency. Over the last few years, trade between the two states has been on the rise, thanks in large part to SA's pragmatic approach.

2) Yemeni Airways is reportedly going to commence two weekly flights from Rome (Fiumicino Airport) to Asmara International Airport, Eritrea starting 21 December. This is important because Yemeni Airways tends to offer some of the cheapest flights to Eritrea.

3) Similarly, Simon Teklesenbet, an official working with the Eritrean Embassy in Qatar, announced Qatar Airways is planing to begin flights to Eritrea. A quick search of their site shows the Doha-based airliner seems to have already hired cabin crew for future flights to Eritrea.

While this list may seem underwhelming for some, it's important to note that Eritrea is still a developing country. Even if Eritrea maintains its impressive GDP growth of 8-10% for the next two decades —  which most indications show it will —  the country will still be behind developed countries in the West, albeit, not too far behind. That being said, you can really start to see the economy gaining momentum of late. As Professor Iqbal Jhazbhay, South Africa's Ambassador to Eritrea put it:

"Based on my experience thus far in Eritrea, the long road to development has just taken off, but with the key firmly in the ignition."

On that note, it's only fitting to end this post with the South African song, "umqombothi" (African beer).

Asmara Brewery, which went private last year, will likely face competition from South African Breweries. 

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