For decades, the economic relationship between Eritrea and its diaspora has been measured largely by money sent home. That captures only part of the asset. The diaspora also holds businesses, professional expertise, purchasing power, international networks and accumulated capital. The larger opportunity is connecting those resources to productive economic activity.
Remittances matter. They support households, help families manage emergencies, finance construction and education, and connect Eritreans abroad with relatives at home. For many developing economies, remittances are an important source of external income. But measuring the Eritrean diaspora primarily through remittances produces an incomplete picture. An Eritrean engineer working in Germany is not only a potential sender of money. An accountant in Washington is not only a source of family support. A contractor in Canada, a physician in Sweden, a technology professional in California or an entrepreneur in London represents something else as well: knowledge, relationships, purchasing power and access to markets. After decades abroad, substantial parts of the Eritrean diaspora have accumulated exactly the kinds of assets developing economies frequently struggle to obtain. The question is how to connect them.
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Caption: Illustrative categories of potential service needs for aging Eritreans in the diaspora; no population estimates shown.
Credit: Graphic: © 2026 Eritrea Business Journal. All rights reserved. Creator: Eritrea Business Journal. Source: Original EBJ graphic.
License: © 2026 Eritrea Business Journal. All rights reserved.