Inside the Houthis’ expanding war economy in Yemen
The Houthis have restructured Yemen's commercial sector, securing billions in revenue amid a humanitarian crisis.
The rapid advance by Yemen’s Houthis down the country’s Red Sea coast has raised questions over whether the group could turn its territorial gains into new sources of revenue, adding to an already extensive war economy.
But the Houthis already had control of large sections of the Red Sea coast, including the major port city of Hodeidah, and the financial benefits associated with that. Their military gains over the past week do not necessarily change the restrictions they have to deal with as an internationally unrecognised governing authority.
Ahmed al-Shalafi, Al Jazeera’s Yemeni affairs editor, said that the advance has been a “geographical and military gain” but not an economic one, as it doesn’t remove the international sanctions that have been placed on it, which severely restrict their ability to commercially exploit the new territory under its control through formal international channels.
Beyond revenues raised inside Yemen, the US government says illicit oil trading has become one of the Houthis’ most important sources of external financing.