The Role of Gulf States in Peace and Security and Development in Sub-Saharan Africa

The Gulf states – particularly Saudi Arabia, Qatar and United Arab Emirates – are emerging as influential security and development actors in the world. This paper identifies contemporary factors that drive Gulf peace and security engagement in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in general, and the Horn of Africa (HoA) in particular. While it takes into consideration recent global developments (emergence of China, the Arab Spring, the growing Saudi-Iran rift and concomitant Sunni-Shia sectarianism in the Middle East), it exemplifies Gulf-HoA relations by analysing the reasons for and regional ramifications of the involvement of Horn countries in the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen (2015). The paper also discusses the economic engagement of the Gulf states in SSA and lays out the characteristics that distinguish Gulf development cooperation from that of the European Union and the US. It highlights the regions and economic sectors in SSA with large Gulf footprints, without overlooking investment controversies surrounding agriculture and food security.

Paper produced in the framework of the project “The EU, the US and the International Strategic Dimension of Sub-Saharan Africa: Peace, Security and Development in the Horn of Africa”, August 2016. Publ. also in: Bernardo Venturi and Nicoletta Pirozzi (eds.), The EU, the US and the International Strategic Dimension of Sub-Saharan Africa: Peace, Security and Development in the Horn of Africa, Brussels, Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) and Rome, Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI), 2016, p. 76-102, ISBN 978-88-6812-734-3