TRIP REPORT
AfricaLink ICRAF
Eritrea, 30-31 July 1997

Michael Hailu
Revised August 7, 1997

Purpose

• To meet with key AfricaLink partners and identify individuals and institutions eligible for AfricaLink support
• To meet with local service providers and identify the most suitable for providing support to AfricaLink partners
• To get a feel of the Internet connectivity situation in Eritrea

Connectivity Status

Email access in Eritrea was initiated a couple of years ago by an American volunteer, Robert Van Buskirk, using a server in the US donated by a company his friend owns. As the email traffic built up, he created a NGO, the Eritrean Technical Exchange in the US to host the server which calls Asmara 3 times a day to deliver and collect messages.

In the last few years, 2 private service providers are offering email services to customers using the US server provided by the Eritrean Technical Exchange. Currently, there are 3 service providers in Eritrea:

1. The Department of Energy where Robert is based provides service to government agencies only. All the subscriptions to this service are donated. Since Robert is leaving the country in a couple of days, the future of this service is not clear.

2. TFanus, a private service provider has customers from the private and government sector. This company is both in the software and hardware business, and it has a good reputation in training and customer support. All the users are paying subscribers. It charges US$ 25 per month for subscription and up to 1 MB data beyond which extra fees are charged.

3. EWAN Technology Solutions was the first private company to provide email services in Eritrea. It has both government and private customers totaling about 250. Although most of the subscribers are paying, there are some donations to government agencies. Charges for installation and training are US$ 55 and a monthly subscription of US$ 28. EWAN has a UUCP and PPP link to California and calls out 3 times a day to pick up/drop messages. Charges are similar to that of TFanus.

According to Robert Van Buskirk, full Internet access in Eritrea is not foreseeable in the near future largely because of government policy. A conference to discuss national communications policy was held the previous week, which also addressed the issue of Internet access.

Meeting with AfricaLink/ICRAF Partners

Department of Research and Human Resources Development, Ministry of Agriculture

The main contact for ASARECA in Eritrea is the Department of Research and Human Resources Development in the Ministry of Agriculture. Mr. Semere Amlesom is the new Director (and member of ASARECA Committee of Directors) replacing Dr. Tekleab Mesghena who has been transferred to the Department of the Environment.

AfricaLink has provided the Department with an email link through EWAN, which is working well. However, the Department is now being relocated to a station 30kms outside of Asmara where there will not be a telephone. The Department is procuring UHF link through EWAN.

The Department has Senior Scientists who belong to different research networks supported by CIP, CIMMYT, ILRI and IRRI.

Since the Department does not have personnel dealing with information issues, Dr. Semere has agreed to be our contact person for AfricaLink activities. Dr. Semere also expressed interest in using email access to search for information on the Internet.

College of Agriculture and Aquatic Resources

I met Dr. Berhane Kiflewahid, Dean of the College and current Chairman of the ASARECA committee of Deans. The college has an email address through EWAN, which has been working well. But they would like to have additional mailboxes to connect their staff at other sites such as the Department of Marine Biology and Fisheries.

Department of the Environment, Ministry of Land, Water and Environment

Dr. Tecleab Mesghena (formerly with the Department of Research, Ministry of Agriculture) is the new Director of this Department and he is keen to get as many of his staff as possible on email. At the moment, the Department has an email service through EWAN. However, they would like to expand email access to their own staff and others working on environment issues in other ministries such as the Ministry of Agriculture. Mrs. Zeneb Habte responsible for Information and Policy at the Department gave me a list of persons they would like to be supported through AfricaLink.

Follow-up Action

To ensure that all AfricaLink partners in Eritrea are provided with email connectivity, I have asked Dr. Semere to compile a list of his research staff located at various sites. During my visit, I have also listed names of individuals we would like to connect. Once we have a consolidated list of partners, we will approach the two local service providers to quote prices for installation, annual subscription, training and user support. Based on their offer and the information we already have about each of the service providers, we will be able to identify the most suitable one and offer them a contract.

People Met

• Dr. Tekleab Mesghena, Executive Director, Department of the Environment
• Dr. Semere Amselom, Director, Research and Human Resources Development
• Dr. Berhane Kiflewahid, Dean, College of Agriculture and Aquatic Resources
• Dr. Robert Van Buskirk, Department of Energy
• Mr. Menghis Samuel, Managing Director, EWAN Technology Solutions
• Mrs. Zeneb Habte, Department of Environment
• Mrs. Maaza Haile-Michael, Managing Director, TFanus Enterprise