There is limited literature on Arab donorship. This is due in part to insufficient attention paid by the academic and donor community to Arab aid, and also to inadequate sharing of information by Arab donors themselves. Of the resources that do exist, there are none that provide in-depth research, analysis or evaluation on aid to Yemen. As such, this helpdesk research report comprises (i.) brief news articles on aid to Yemen; and (ii.) literature on Arab donorship generally.
Yemen is considered the poorest country in the Arab world; however, levels of ODA per capita in Yemen are substantially lower than the average of the rest of the low-income countries. While the majority of Arab aid is given to Arab countries, much of the literature emphasises that Arab donors give comparatively less to low-income countries than OECD countries and more to lower-middle income countries. Saudi Arabia is the key Arab donor that prioritises aid to Yemen, directly through the Saudi Government and through the Saudi Fund for Development.
The literature highlights the following aspects of Arab donorship generally:
- Loans: aid is given mostly bilaterally in the form of concessionary loans
- Non-conditionality: conditionalities (substantive or procedural) are rarely applied. Democracy and governance are not key considerations in Arab aid
- Untied aid: assistance is primarily untied. Competitive bidding procedures are adopted, which allow for the participation of local suppliers
- Infrastructure and productive sector focus: assistance has catered to recipient countries’ preferences for infrastructure development (e.g. transport) and productive sector investments (e.g. energy and mining)
- Prestige projects versus pro-poor: financing is not necessarily targeted to projects that benefit the poor, but may involve prestige projects (e.g. airport financing)
- Volatility: aid has been volatile, due in part to the volatility of donor countries’ revenue from oil and gas exports and to their strategic use of aid to support foreign policies.
