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The United Arab Emirates said on Wednesday it would invest $1 billion in the electricity infrastructure of government-held Yemen, which has been devastated by civil war.

On a visit to Aden, where the internationally recognized government is based, Emirati ambassador Mohammed Hamad al-Zaabi announced his country had "allocated $1 billion to build power plants," including solar, wind and oil-fired power stations.

The Yemeni government has been at war with the Iran-backed Houthis since 2014, with the rebel group controlling the capital Sanaa and most of Yemen's major population centers.

The UAE was part of a Saudi-led coalition that intervened in the war in 2015, exacerbating the conflict and leaving Yemen divided, with hundreds of thousands dead and gripped by one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

Since a ceasefire in 2022, the war has largely been frozen.

Yemen's Prime Minister Salem ben Brik, speaking at the same energy forum where Zaabi made his comments, confirmed his government had "obtained strategic support from the UAE" for the energy sector amounting to $1 billion.

Separately, Ali Alshimmari, the head of the Abu Dhabi-based company Global South Utilities, also announced "a set of projects worth $1 billion."

He made his comments on a channel affiliated with the Southern Transitional Council (STC), the political arm of a separatist group backed by the UAE.

Alshimmari said the aim of the investment was "not only production but also transport and distribution."

The current Aden-based government was formed at the end of 2020 as part of a power-sharing agreement negotiated under the auspices of Saudi Arabia. It includes ministers loyal to former president Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and to the STC.

The war has destroyed much of Yemen's infrastructure, including hospitals and power stations. Even before the conflict, only two-thirds of Yemenis had access to the public electricity grid.

There are frequent protests in Aden over prolonged power outages that force some residents to live and work by candlelight.

Ben Brik said the supply of electricity was "a chronic problem accumulated over many years".

AFP