Are Gulf donors spending more on aid?

Over recent years, donor countries along the Persian Gulf have made a growing but volatile contribution to official development assistance. These donors have often been deeply controversial, due to their countries’ approaches to gender equality and human rights, but they have also been significant funders, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa, or MENA, region. In 2022, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Kuwait contributed a total of $9.2 billion in total ODA, according to preliminary data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. These four countries are listed as “DAC participant” countries, but their donations are additional to the ODA provided by the Development Assistance Committee member countries — worth $211 billion at 2021 constant prices. In this article, Devex will be examining the ODA contributions of each country and how they distribute their funding globally. The data used for this analysis comes from a multitude of sources including the OECD statistics portal, OECD development cooperation profiles, and annual reports from different agencies. Devex used the most recent figures available, which vary from 2019 to 2022. Figures from 2022 are all considered as preliminary data. For all donors, ODA figures are in grant-equivalent terms, and constant 2021 prices. Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia is one of the largest contributors to the MENA region. In 2021, Saudi Arabia contributed $6 billion in grant-equivalent funding toward the region alone. Its overall ODA has been volatile over the years, but has seen an increase recently. In 2019, it started out with $2.1 billion, falling to $1.9 billion in 2020, increasing to $7.2 billion in 2021, and then decreasing to almost $6.2 billion in 2022, according to preliminary data. Saudi Arabia was the only country among the Gulf donors to reach the OECD’s 0.7% ODA-to-GNI target in 2022, with 0.74%. In 2016, Saudi Arabia launched “Saudi Vision 2030” — a set of strategic goals that the country plans to align its funding with, aiming to become an ambitious country with a thriving economy. The primary players in Saudi Arabia’s ODA funding are the Saudi Fund for Development and the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre, or KSRelief. Both agencies are handled by the government. The SFD partly handles the ODA funding for other priorities such as infrastructure-related loans. KSRelief mostly handles everything related to humanitarian aid. Saudi Arabia’s geographical focus is primarily directed toward the MENA region, although they have also contributed to the Americas region. In 2021, Saudi Arabia’s main focus in funding was directed toward commodity aid, which is aid focused on the provision of goods for humanitarian settings — allocating $5.1 billion overall. United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates has been a consistent presence among the OECD’s top donors, with $1.5 billion in total ODA in 2021. In total, $742.9 million of its funding went to the Asia region, with $347 million going toward the Africa region. Its total ODA contributions have seen a slow and steady decline since 2019. The country provided nearly $2.5 billion in 2019, which decreased to about $2 billion in 2020, almost $1.5 billion in 2021, and $1.4 billion in 2022. The UAE has no specialist agencies when it comes to the disbursement of its aid, which is handled by a number of different government agencies. It says that its approach to aid is guided primarily by “sustainable development and improving the welfare of all mankind.” According to its 2021 foreign aid report, the UAE delivered 97.9% in grants while loans accounted for the remaining 2.1%. The UAE’s primary sectoral focus is on economic infrastructure and the production sector — allocating a total of $317 million for both sectors. The UAE focused its funding primarily on the Middle East with $510 million allocated to the region in 2021. Yemen received the most funding, with $259 million. Qatar Qatar is seeing some growth in terms of its total ODA funding, from $621 million in 2019 to $629 million to $676.6 million in 2021. In 2022, Qatar’s total ODA rose to $849.3 million. Qatar’s aid strategy is based on its Qatar National Vision 2030 — a series of development goals that Qatar has set for itself. This includes goals to ensure the well-being of all persons, fair and inclusive education, and providing sustainable economic growth. The primary player in Qatar’s ODA funding is the Qatar Fund For Development. It is a government institution that aims to implement external aid projects to several countries. They provide funding through multiple means such as: grants, soft loans, commercial loans, guarantees, and development investments. Qatar’s sectoral focus is primarily on social infrastructure and humanitarian aid; it contributed $576 million in total to these sectors in 2021. In terms of its regional focus, the majority of its funding — about $398 million — was focused on the Middle East region, with most of the funding centered on the West Bank and Gaza Strip with $311 million. Kuwait Kuwait is also one of the notable donors from the Gulf region. Its total ODA spending went from $431 million in 2019 to $413 million in 2020 to $443.4 million in 2021. OECD’s summary of 2022 funding said Kuwait spent $770 million, however OECD’s website gives a much lower figure. Devex has asked for clarification. The primary agency for Kuwait’s aid is the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development. It is the first institution in the Middle East that concentrated on international development efforts. Its main form of funding comes from loans. Kuwait’s sectoral priorities are directed toward social and economic infrastructure, with $706 million in total apportioned to both sectors in 2021. Regionally, Kuwait’s funding has been zoned in on the North Africa region, where it spent $257 million in 2021. Egypt received the most funding, with $283 million. Try out Devex Pro Funding today with a free five-day trial and explore funding opportunities from over 850 sources in addition to our analysis and news content.