The Trump Administration has moved to shut down the US Agency for International Development, an independent government organisation that provides humanitarian relief and works to alleviate global poverty. Getty Images
The Trump Administration has moved to shut down the US Agency for International Development, an independent government organisation that provides humanitarian relief and works to alleviate global poverty. Getty Images
The Trump Administration has moved to shut down the US Agency for International Development, an independent government organisation that provides humanitarian relief and works to alleviate global pove
The dismantling of the US Agency for International Development will be felt strongly across the Middle East, where programmes cover food aid, education, health and more.
Personnel will be put on administrative leave around the world on Saturday after US President Donald Trump ordered the agency to shut down.
Operating in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Gaza and the West Bank, to name a few of its 11 regional locations, USAID is vital for the millions who rely on it for assistance.
Here is what you need to know about USAID in the Middle East:
The USAID website now shows a message explaining the shutdown.
Egypt
USAID has been working in the most populous country in the Middle East for 45 years, spending tens of billions on reducing infant and mortality rates, and improving primary-school-level reading among boys and girls.
Last year, the US allocated $214.5 million towards six sectors in Egypt, with the majority of funding ($86 million) going towards education and social services, followed by economic development, humanitarian assistance and others like health and human rights, according to the US Foreign Assistance website.
Established in November 2022, the USAID Egyptian Pioneers programme, which allocated nearly $90 million to the American University in Cairo (AUC), has provided scholarships and training to Egyptian students, particularly to empower low-income citizens.
Egyptian consultant cardiologist at the country's largest public cardiology hospital, Dr Hany Ragy, publicly thanked USAID for the major impact they had on him and his work.
“Without USAID we wouldn’t have had our first 2 modern Cath labs in my hospital in Cairo, many years ago, or the fellowships who benefited many of us – myself included- to train in US hospitals then go back, have been forever grateful for this," he wrote in a post on X on Wednesday.
Since its beginning in 1978, USAID has invested more than $30 billion in the country.
Yemen
With more than 80 per cent of Yemen's population in need of humanitarian aid, USAID's role has been to focus on food, medicine, emergency care for pregnant women, and shelter kits for displaced people, spending $704 million on humanitarian assistance last year.
USAID has also been able to operate in the vital port of Hodeidah – keeping the port which millions of people rely on for the delivery of life-saving assistance – open during times of conflict.
The most recent impact of its work was seen last month when Israel struck the port in retaliation for Houthi attacks on Israel.
US-based risk analysis consultancy agency Basha Report said USAID-donated mobile cranes had kept the port operational despite the Israeli bombing and damage to the port.
“These cranes significantly enhance the efficiency of unloading cargo at the port. Typically, unloading a large cargo ship can take up to a week, but with the cranes, this time is reduced by three to four days," the agency's founder Mohammad Al Basha wrote following the attacks.
Iraq
USAID's partially-functioning website says that in Iraq it implemented “activities designed to strengthen infrastructure, stabilise communities, foster economic and agricultural growth, and help the various levels of government better represent and respond to the needs of the Iraqi people".
Last year, $135 million was designated for USAID to spend in the country with the majority, $35.23 million, going into “peace and security", $33.48m for “economic development", $24.7m towards “democracy, human rights, and governance" and the rest towards programme support and humanitarian assistance.
Iraqi men unload humanitarian aid supplies provided by the US development agency USAID to displaced Iraqis who have fled clashes between ISIS and Peshmerga fighters, on October 2, 2014, in the town of Daquq, around 180 kilometres north of Baghdad. AFP
Recently, the agency came under scrutiny for reportedly investing $20 million into the Arabic version of Sesame Street Ahlan Simsim, “to promote understanding, equity, and tolerance across divides", Sesame Street's website says.
USAID was instrumental in “stabilising" the areas liberated from ISIS control. This was done by creating jobs to diversify the economy by promoting food production, improving water supply and sustainable energy usage.
This helped bring people out of poverty and supported women's participation in the workforce where since 2020 more than 5,000 women entrepreneurs were provided with support services.
Gaza and the West Bank
As the humanitarian situation in the West Bank and Gaza is confounded with Israel's 15-month bombardment of the Strip and renewed attacks on the West Bank, there is an array of needs to be met.
Nearly $1 billion allocated for the West Bank and Gaza in 2024 for USAID. During its work in the West Bank, USAID helped improve the quality of women's education in some schools there, and by expanding the project, helped reduce class sizes and forgo the need for students to learn in shifts.
Elsewhere, it helped create projects in the agriculture field, where, for example, it empowered one of the few strawberry farmers left in the West Bank, who received assistance from USAID, helping him grow his business and send his daughter to university.
While these are only some of the projects that USAID has worked on across the region, as former White House global engagement director Brett Bruen said: “No USAID (equals) No influence. Our aid gives America critical leverage in many countries," making room for other countries like China to cover the gap.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
1. Kylian Mbappe - to Real Madrid in 2017/18 - €180 million (Dh770.4m - if a deal goes through)
2. Paul Pogba - to Manchester United in 2016/17 - €105m
3. Gareth Bale - to Real Madrid in 2013/14 - €101m
4. Cristiano Ronaldo - to Real Madrid in 2009/10 - €94m
5. Gonzalo Higuain - to Juventus in 2016/17 - €90m
6. Neymar - to Barcelona in 2013/14 - €88.2m
7. Romelu Lukaku - to Manchester United in 2017/18 - €84.7m
8. Luis Suarez - to Barcelona in 2014/15 - €81.72m
9. Angel di Maria - to Manchester United in 2014/15 - €75m
10. James Rodriguez - to Real Madrid in 2014/15 - €75m
