ABU DHABI DEVELOPMENT FUND CHANNELS ASSISTANCE

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABU DHABI 000485 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARP (BMASILKO) AND SCA/A (RMACKLIN) DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS TO USAID ASIA/MIDDLE EAST BUREAUS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/13/2019 TAGS: EAID PGOV EFIN EINV AF PK AE SUBJECT: ABU DHABI DEVELOPMENT FUND CHANNELS ASSISTANCE CLASSIFIED BY AMBASSADOR RICHARD G. OLSON FOR REASONS 1.4 (B AND D). REFS: A) ABU DHABI 371 B) ABU DHABI 270 C) 08 ABU DHABI 1210 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: During EconOff's May 7 courtesy call, Acting Director General of the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD, www.adfd.ae) Mohammed Saif Al Sowaidi outlined the Fund's efforts to support economic development through bilateral loans and grants to Middle Eastern, African and Asian countries. The ADFD, which is led by Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, also disburses UAEG pledges (reftels) to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Gaza, among others. Al Sowaidi said ADFD efforts in Afghanistan were particularly challenging and that he was interested in pursuing broader cooperation with USAID. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) Al Sowaidi explained that 99 percent of UAEG assistance is funded by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and overseen by the ADFD. Since its establishment in 1972, the ADFD has disbursed more than USD 6 billion in loans, grants and investments for 269 projects in 52 developing countries. ADFD literature indicates ADFD loans approached USD 3.4 billion, while Abu Dhabi Government Grants exceeded USD 1.5 billion. Arab countries (defined as Turkey, the Levant and the Arabian Peninsula) have received 84 percent of ADFD assistance. Al Sowaidi said the ADFD, which has an annual operating budget of more than USD 200 million, manages and supervises all assistance. ¶3. (C) Al Sowaidi lamented the difficulties in disbursing UAEG pledges for Afghanistan, citing corruption and general government disorganization. He explained that the ADFD's USD 30 million Kabul Road Rehabilitation project "was not going well," as the new mayor of Kabul had rejected the ADFD proposal approved by the former mayor. Noting the UAE's USD 250 million pledge for Afghanistan at the 2008 Paris Conference, Al Sowaidi said the ADFD was discussing possible projects with the GOA, but had not yet disbursed any funds. Projects currently being considered included the Mazar e Sharif airport and a new dam (he thought near Shah Sherif). ¶4. (C) Citing the Afghanistan problems and the UAE's recent USD 300 million pledge for Pakistan at the Tokyo conference, Al Sowaidi said the difficulties of providing development assistance to those countries made him wish another organization could take over this effort. Noting his recent interaction with USAID officials in Tokyo, he said he hoped ADFD could benefit from cooperation with USAID in countries of mutual concern and broader issues of development assistance. ¶5. (C) Comment: A number of UAE federal and local entities oversee a variety of assistance programs; the public and private purse can be confused, as can federal and emirate level aid, given the number of private charities of key rulers, the quasi-governmental Red Crescent (RCA) and like organizations, emirate-based charities, and a recently-formed umbrella organization presumably intended to connect the dots between some of these entities -- the UAE Foreign Aid Coordination Office led by RCA Chairman Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed. Among these many entities, however, the ADFD may be the largest and most focused. Being led by the Foreign Minister, it clearly has the pulse of federal aid commitments and may have the best accounting of UAE assistance worldwide. However, it would undoubtedly benefit from cooperation with USAID in areas where its efforts are frustrated, to help facilitate timely disbursal of pledges. End Comment. OLSON