The war opened 5 huge market opportunities for the private sector in Yemen
English - Monday 12 June 2023 الساعة 09:20 am
Taiz, NewsYemen, Exclusive:
A new economic report said: The disintegration of Yemen, the country's economy, and state institutions led to the opening of market opportunities for actors in the private sector, to provide the services that the state used to provide in the sectors of food, fuel, finance, transportation, and gas.
According to the World Bank's "The Future: A Glimpse of Hope in Gloomy Times" report, the decline in domestic wheat production has increased dependence on wheat imports and created additional market opportunities for major wheat importers.
"The main food importers who dominated the market before the conflict maintained and even increased their market share during the conflict," he added.
He explained that some food importers benefited from the legitimate government's favoritism in supporting imports from the Saudi deposit of two billion dollars, and also from similar favoritism they obtained from the Houthis from the Payments Committee and in coordination with the Central Bank of Sana'a.
The privatization of fuel imports and distribution in Yemen has also led to private sector actors filling the gaps left by the state-run Aden Refinery Company and the Yemen Petroleum Company.
Marginalized or previously unknown fuel importers gained an increasing market share in competition with fuel traders established before the start of the conflict, and the entry of new players who own and operate prominent exchange companies in the market.
The report pointed out that politics and competition between the Houthis and the government have greatly affected the dynamics of fuel import and distribution, with the continued transfer of fuel from government areas to Houthi areas.
The report said that the private sector achieved significant gains in the financial sector, as exchange companies grew rapidly, and banks that provide Islamic banking services, as well as banks that recorded higher inflows of foreign currencies, whether in the form of remittances or humanitarian financing.
The increasing importance of exchange companies to finance trade and pay salaries led to the emergence of job opportunities and relationships between some exchange companies, groups of merchants, businessmen and foreign beneficiaries.
Money changers also offer credit and savings services that are technically outside the scope of what their licenses allow, prompting the Central Bank of Yemen-Aden in 2021 to grant several licenses to prominent exchange companies to operate as microfinance banks.
The report indicated that the private sector benefited from the dynamics of the local conflict and economic competition between the Houthis and the government, as a result of cutting off the main supply routes, and imposing taxes on the same goods from both sides of the conflict.
The report indicated that logistics and transportation companies and private trucks have achieved significant growth, as evidenced by the expansion of fuel and cooking gas distribution, in addition to the fact that fuel and LPG truck drivers have gained increasing influence due to the scarcity of skilled workers.
The report pointed out that the state-run Yemeni Gas Company was marginalized in Houthi areas, which raised the number of actors along the gas supply chain, with an increasing number of gas transport companies and the imposition of Houthi supervisors and local leaders in the process of distribution and sale in Houthi areas.
The report revealed that the liquefied petroleum gas allocated for the areas under the control of the legitimate government has been transferred to the Houthi areas, in addition to that liquefied petroleum gas is now being imported, but it was not imported before the conflict.
