Russia's transport ministry says Russian companies are ready to take part in building and modernising berths and coastal defences at Eritrea's ports and to support rail and road projects. No agreement, budget or timetable has been announced.
Russian Transport Minister Dmitry Yadrov held a working meeting in Moscow with Eritrea's President Isaias Afwerki, who was attending the third Russia–Africa summit, the Russian transport ministry said in a statement dated 30 October. According to the ministry, the two sides "emphasised the importance of developing transport connectivity", and specialists from both countries will jointly identify routes and the types and volumes of cargo that could form the basis for more traffic.
What Russia is offering
The ministry said Russian companies were ready to take part in developing Eritrea's maritime port infrastructure, "in particular in projects for the construction and modernisation of berths and coastal protection structures" (CERHA translation from Russian). In the railway sector, it said Russia could provide strategic and technical consulting, including development plans for Eritrea's transport system, feasibility studies and staff training, and that Russian firms were also interested in building and modernising roads and railways.
Yadrov invited Eritrean colleges to join a Russian–African network transport university, which the ministry says links 38 institutions in Russia and 13 African countries. He also invited an Eritrean delegation to a transport and logistics forum in St Petersburg in spring 2027. Sputnik Africa carried the ministry's account on 31 October.
The statement names no ports, companies, budgets or timetable, and announces no signed agreement. Some social media posts claimed that a deal to renovate Assab and Massawa had been signed. Neither government has announced one, Mereja Media noted. Eritrea's Ministry of Information reported that the president and his delegation returned home on 1 November.
Context
Eritrea's two main ports are Massawa, in the north, and Assab, near the Bab el-Mandeb strait at the southern mouth of the Red Sea. The meeting followed Isaias's talks with President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin during the summit. Eritrea has long kept close ties with Moscow and was among the few states to vote against UN General Assembly resolutions condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The Red Sea coast is also at the centre of tensions with Ethiopia. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has repeatedly said landlocked Ethiopia needs access to the sea, which Asmara regards as a threat to its sovereignty. Ethiopia has also been deepening military ties with Moscow, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has offered to host talks between the two neighbours, according to Mereja Media. Asmara's embassy in London told The African Gazette this week that Eritrea "will never negotiate over its sovereignty and territorial integrity".
Photo: The harbour at Massawa, Eritrea, 2011. Reinhard Dietrich, via Wikimedia Commons, CC0.