Saudi Arabia and Qatar announced that they have paid off Syria’s outstanding debt of $15.5 million to the World Bank’s International Development Association. “We are pleased that the clearance of Syria’s arrears will allow the World Bank Group to reengage with the country and address the development needs of the Syrian people,” the World Bank said in a statement. This will enable Syria to take on new loans, and secure Qatar’s and Saudi Arabia’s influence in the rebuild.
Syria is still in dire condition after its 14-year conflict. The World Bank said, “The first project in our reengagement with Syria is centered on access to electricity.” The World Bank’s International Development Association can provide Syria with zero—or low-interest loans going forward.
Investments are pouring into Syria from across the Gulf. Trump lifting sanctions signaled that Syria is open for business. Dubai signed a $800 million memorandum to rebuild the port of Tartus, marking the largest foreign investment in Syria to date.
Although tons of investments and calls for an epic rebuild are coming from around the world, we must remember that Syria is a war-torn, third-world nation that is barely surviving. Syria is desperate for stable basic infrastructure. The national grid is extremely unreliable and has been unable to generate enough electricity to meet demand. Estimates states only 1,500 MW was produced in the beginning of the year, amounting to around 2 hours of electricity per day for the population who has access to the grid. Around 2.5 to 3 million Syrians do not have any access to electricity. Those who do have access regularly experience multi-day blackouts. There is mass corruption and regions favored by the regime notably have more access to electricity compared to others.
Worse, half of Syria’s water and sanitation systems are inoperable, leading to severe water shortages. The United Nations warned that Syria was the most drought-prone nation in the Mediterranean on its Global Conflict Risk Index. It is estimated that 98% of Syrians had access to basic drinking water in 2011, before the war. That figure has plummeted to 50% at best. The Euphrates River, Syria’s main freshwater source, has seen its flow drop by more than half since 2021 due to drought and restrictions implemented by Turkey.
Since the pipelines flowing throughout the nation were damage by warfare, many regions relied on trucked water, with an estimated 6.9 million people only having access to their primary water source for two to seven days per month. Contaminated water caused tens of thousands of cholera outbreaks, and the nation has little to no access to health care.
Over 65% of the population, or 16 million people, cannot access health care. All of the skilled workers and doctors left the country long ago, education has been minimal, and hospitals are severely understaffed. Estimates believe only 37% of primary health care centers are operational, with 57% of hospitals operating to some capacity. The nation entirely relies on foreign humanitarian aid.
The people of Syria are living in atrocious conditions. Over half the nation is food insecure, half cannot access water, and the majority barely have access to electricity. An estimated 90% of the public lives well below the poverty line. GDP plummeted by two-thirds since 2011, and the Syrian pound also fell by two-thirds in 2023 alone. The SYP was about 47 to the dollar before the war, and now, the exchange rate is around 11,000 to 13,000 per USD. Many regions use the Turkish lira is given the opportunity but one in four Syrians cannot find work, and those who do manage to find public sector employment are living on under $70 USD (1.2 million SYP) per months when the cost of living for a family of five is around 14.5 million SYP.
So while we may hear of these lucrative opportunities to rebuild Syria, the nation is still in complete disarray. Investments from nations like Qatar and Saudi Arabia are desperately needed, but it will take time for the nation to recover from such a devastating low.
