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ASMARA, 21 October 2026 Eritrea's Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel has accused Ethiopia of relying on an estimated $80 billion to $90 billion in international assistance over the past 35 years while failing to address widespread poverty and hunger.
The accusations came in response to remarks by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who claimed that Eritrea's economy, particularly its manufacturing sector, had been stagnant and in decline since the country gained independence in 1991.
Yemane rejected Abiy's account of Eritrea's industrial history, including his reference to approximately 300 factories that once operated in the country.
The minister said the factories had been established by Italy during the colonial period before British authorities dismantled many of them as war reparations. He claimed that the remaining industrial facilities were subsequently transferred to Ethiopia under Emperor Haile Selassie.
Turning to Ethiopia's economy, Yemane said the country had benefited from two rounds of World Bank-supported debt cancellation, repeated International Monetary Fund (IMF) assistance and other forms of international financial support.
He also criticised humanitarian programmes implemented in Ethiopia over the past decade, describing international social safety net initiatives as emergency measures designed to sustain the country's economy.
According to the minister, Abiy's government alone has received more than $30 billion in international assistance over the past eight years.
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Yemane claimed Ethiopia's economy was again being supported by an IMF bailout programme despite decades of foreign assistance.
He further alleged that more than 68% of Ethiopians lived in extreme poverty and nearly 30 million people required urgent humanitarian assistance. These figures were presented by the Eritrean minister and have not been independently verified.
The minister also accused Abiy of renewing threats against Eritrea over Ethiopia's longstanding ambition to secure access to the Red Sea.
He said the Ethiopian prime minister was reviving demands first raised three years earlier for sovereign access to the sea and an Ethiopian naval presence along Eritrea's coastline, proposals that Asmara rejects.
Ethiopia, a landlocked country since Eritrea's independence in 1993, has repeatedly expressed its interest in securing reliable maritime access, an issue that has contributed to tensions between the neighbouring countries.
Yemane argued that Ethiopia could reduce its dependence on international assistance if its leadership abandoned what he described as divisive policies contributing to domestic conflict and regional instability.
His remarks reflect continuing diplomatic tensions between Eritrea and Ethiopia, with economic performance, maritime access and regional security remaining central points of disagreement.