The Africa Center for Strategic Studies published on 8 July 2025 a study titled "Mapping Gulf State Actors' Expanding Engagements in East Africa."
The UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey have become the leading sources of capital, private sector engagement, and weapons flows into East Africa in recent years. The UAE is by far the most engaged actor in East Africa with $47 billion in projects and about 60 percent of all Gulf region capital inflows. Saudi Arabia is second with an estimated $16 billion in investments across East Africa.
