1.8 Billion Riyals to Empower National Production: Small Projects Embody the September 21 Revolution’s Approach to Building a Resilient Economy

In a scene reflecting the significant transformation of Yemeni state institutions under the September 21 Revolution, the General Authority for Small and Micro Enterprise Development continues to play its developmental and economic role as one of the effective national tools for boosting local production and empowering families and communities to build sustainable sources of income, moving away from the policies of dependency and subservience that weakened the national economy for decades.

In this context, the Authority revealed that it provided interest-free loans, both cash and in-kind, during the past year, exceeding 1.804 billion riyals. These loans targeted 1,787 small and micro projects in several governorates, funded by the General Authority for Zakat and the Agricultural and Fisheries Projects and Initiatives Financing Unit in the capital, Sana’a. This step confirms the national trend towards supporting productive projects and transforming them into a fundamental pillar in the battle for economic resilience and sustainable development.

The September 21 Revolution: From Liberating National Decision-Making to Building an Economy that Serves the Citizen

Since the launch of the blessed September 21 Revolution, the national state has moved towards reformulating governmental and economic priorities by transitioning from a rentier and consumer-based economy dependent on foreign powers to one based on local production, community empowerment, and leveraging national capabilities across various sectors.

Supporting small and micro enterprises has been a key practical aspect of this approach, as they represent the backbone of any national economy capable of confronting challenges, blockades, and aggression. Furthermore, they play a vital role in combating poverty and unemployment, enhancing food security, and stimulating local production.

Under this vision, state institutions have transformed from instruments subject to external dictates into developmental institutions that prioritize the citizen, striving to provide job opportunities, improve living standards, and achieve self-sufficiency. This is clearly embodied in the interventions of the General Authority for the Development of Small and Micro Enterprises.

Extensive Funding for Productive and Service Projects

According to the Authority’s annual report, the loans provided were distributed across multiple sectors, including the establishment and development of factories and workshops for productive families, and support for livestock, solar energy, and agricultural land reclamation projects. This reflects the diversity of interventions and their broad developmental and productive scope.

The report explained that the funding included direct cash loans amounting to 26.7 million riyals, indirect cash loans through community empowerment portfolios amounting to 84 million riyals, in addition to in-kind loans valued at approximately 1.694 billion riyals. This demonstrates the significant investment in productive projects as a key driver of economic recovery.

The importance of this funding extends beyond its financial value to the nature of its impact on society. It has contributed to empowering hundreds of families and producers to establish their own projects or develop existing ones, thereby enhancing self-reliance and reinforcing a culture of production and work.

Livestock Development and Food Security Enhancement

Among the most prominent results achieved by these interventions, the report revealed an increase in milk production in Hodeidah Governorate to approximately 400,000 liters annually within the Dairy Value Chains Project. This is in addition to livestock development and enhanced disease protection, reaching up to 80 percent in the targeted areas.

These results reflect the success of the National Vision in transforming financial support into projects with a direct and sustainable economic impact. These projects contribute to strengthening food security, providing local products, and reducing reliance on imports, at a time when the aggression and blockade continue to target the resources of the Yemeni people.

These projects also underscore that true development is not achieved through temporary consumer aid, but rather through building community capacities and empowering them to produce and achieve self-sufficiency.

“Community Empowerment Portfolios”: An Innovative National Development Model

Within the framework of expanding community partnerships, the “Community Empowerment Portfolios” emerged as one of the innovative financing mechanisms launched by the Authority to support micro-enterprises within neighborhoods and local communities.

The head of the General Authority for Small and Micro Enterprise Development, Ahmed Al-Kabsi, explained that these portfolios are based on establishing financing funds through local institutions and associations, which in turn handle direct lending to beneficiaries. This enhances the sustainability of financing through loan recycling and reinforces the concept of community partnership in development.

He noted that these portfolios were established in partnership with a number of institutions and associations, including the Al-Yateem and Khayrat Al-Ataa Development Foundations, the National Women’s Committee in Dhamar Governorate, and cooperative and development associations in the capital city and the governorates of Sana’a, Dhamar, Hajjah, and Hodeidah.

This model represents an advanced form of community-based economics, whose philosophy is based on empowering communities to manage their resources and mobilize their productive capacities, independent of conditional external financing.

Projects Reach Rural Areas and the Most Needy Regions

According to the report, cash loans targeted several districts in the capital city and the governorates of Sana’a, Dhamar, and Hajjah. Beneficiaries of in-kind loans were distributed across multiple districts in Al Hudaydah Governorate, including Al Tuhayta, Bayt al Faqih, Ad Durayhimi, Al Jarahi, Zabid, Al Qanawis, Bajil, Al Munirah, Al Marawi’ah, As Sukhnah, and Al Mansuriyah, in addition to districts in Ibb Governorate.

This geographical reach underscores the organization’s commitment to reaching the most vulnerable groups, particularly in rural areas that have long suffered from marginalization and exclusion under previous regimes linked to foreign powers.

This also reflects the organization’s efforts to…