Yemen's Planning Minister Meets World Bank and IFC Delegation on Improving the Investment Climate

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Yemen’s Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Dr. Afrah Al-Zouba, held talks on Tuesday with a joint delegation from the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation on improving the country’s investment climate and expanding support for the private sector. The meeting brought together the internationally recognized government and two of the world’s most influential development finance institutions at a moment when Yemen’s leadership is trying to steady an economy battered by more than a decade of war.

The two sides laid the groundwork for closer collaboration on economic reform, with particular emphasis on aligning the IFC’s programs with the government’s reform agenda. Officials said the central aim of the partnership is to create a more favorable business environment, a precondition for attracting investment and financing into the priority sectors the government has identified. The government hopes that unlocking private capital can help drive recovery where public resources remain scarce.

Dr. Al-Zouba pressed for a larger IFC footprint in Yemen, calling for initiatives that stimulate investment and strengthen private enterprise. She stressed that development programs must be carefully coordinated so that each intervention delivers the greatest possible impact, and she framed structural reform and better governance as essential steps toward winning the confidence of foreign investors.

The meeting also reviewed the portfolio of projects the World Bank currently supports in Yemen and assessed how they fit with the forthcoming National Development and Reconstruction Plan for 2027 to 2029. The cabinet recently approved the formation of a committee to prepare that plan, which is intended to provide a strategic framework for reconstruction and sustainable development once conditions allow. Ensuring that current projects feed into the plan’s priorities, officials argue, will help Yemen avoid duplication and make the most of limited donor resources.

The IFC is the World Bank Group’s private sector arm, and its engagement in fragile and conflict-affected states typically focuses on supporting small and medium-sized enterprises, strengthening financial institutions and encouraging investment in basic infrastructure. The World Bank itself has kept a substantial program running in Yemen throughout the conflict, largely through emergency grants from the International Development Association that are implemented with United Nations agencies and local partners.

The economic backdrop to the talks is stark. Yemen’s economy has contracted by more than half since the war began in 2015, according to United Nations estimates, and the national currency has lost much of its value in government-held areas. The conflict has also split the country’s monetary system, with rival central bank branches in Aden and Sanaa issuing competing directives, complicating trade, banking and the payment of salaries.

The humanitarian consequences remain severe. The United Nations says more than 18 million people in Yemen need some form of assistance, and millions have been displaced by the fighting. Because the country imports the bulk of its food and fuel, a functioning private sector and a stable exchange rate bear directly on whether ordinary families can afford essentials.

Yemen’s private sector has nonetheless shown resilience through the war, keeping imports flowing and markets functioning even at the height of the fighting. Business leaders have long argued that they could do far more with better access to finance, reliable electricity and predictable regulation, and international institutions increasingly see support for private enterprise as a complement to humanitarian aid rather than a substitute for it.

The meeting fits into a broader reform track that has gathered pace in recent months. Yemen’s government reached a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund in Amman on an eighteen-month staff-monitored program, a step intended to anchor fiscal and monetary reforms and rebuild credibility with donors. The government is also preparing for an international conference on economic reform expected to be convened in New York.

Geography raises the stakes further. Yemen sits along the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, one of the world’s busiest shipping chokepoints, and instability there has repeatedly disrupted commercial traffic and pushed up insurance costs. Regional partners and international stakeholders therefore have a direct interest in a stable Yemeni economy, which adds weight to initiatives backed by international finance.

For their part, the World Bank and IFC representatives reaffirmed their commitment to supporting Yemen through the current period and signaled a willingness to expand cooperation with the government. They acknowledged the scale of the challenges but said their institutions would continue to promote investment and private sector financing consistent with Yemen’s development priorities.

Significant obstacles remain. Attracting investment at scale will require not just financial resources but a measure of political stability, functioning courts and a banking system reconnected to international finance. Businesses in government-held areas continue to contend with electricity shortages, fragmented regulation and the wider uncertainty of an unresolved conflict, all of which weigh on the decisions of potential investors.

Even so, the discussions mark a meaningful step in Yemen’s effort to move from crisis management toward recovery. If the government can pair its reform agenda with sustained backing from institutions such as the World Bank and the IFC, officials believe the country can begin to generate jobs, reduce dependence on aid and lay the foundations for longer-term stability.