Aden moves to tighten economic control, orders telecom companies to shift from Sanaa to Aden

In another major move to tighten control over key economic sectors, the Internationally Recognized Government in Yemen has directed mobile phone companies to move their headquarters from the Houthi-controlled city of Sanaa to the capital, Aden, and complete the necessary procedures to rectify their legal conditions.

In a memorandum issued on Thursday, Acting Minister of Telecommunications Waed Badhib called on mobile phone companies to move their financial, technical and administrative headquarters from Sanaa to Aden in order to obtain the necessary licenses for operations.

The order also demanded that companies pay their overdue debts, including fees and taxes. It warned of punitive measures against violators, in accordance with the government decisions and relevant reports of the Central Agency for Oversight and Accounting.

This measure is the third economic action taken by the Internationally Recognized Yemeni Government against the Houthis in less than two weeks.

On June 5, the Yemeni Minister of Transport, Abdulsalam Hamid, directed Yemenia Airways company to transfer its revenues from Sanaa to the Central Bank in Aden, as well as transfer the remainder of the company’s activities from Sanaa to Aden.

Yemenia is the exclusive government air carrier in the country.

On May 30, the Central Bank in Aden suspended transactions with six commercial banks in Sanaa due to their dealings with the Houthis and their failure to respond to the directive to move their headquarters to Aden. The Houthis responded by imposing similar sanctions on 13 banks operating from Aden.

Yesterday (June 7), a Yemeni government official called on the Houthis to adhere to their announcement of opening roads in the city of Taiz, which has been besieged since the start of the war in 2015.

Abdulkarim Shaiban, head of the government negotiating committee to open roads in Taiz, said: “All roads in Taiz are open on the government side. We have been waiting to hear the Houthis’ announcement of road opening on their side, which is what we have been demanding for years.”

"Although the other party did not coordinate with us about opening the roads, we hope that they will be honest and ready to coordinate to place military points to ensure the safe passage of citizens," he added.

During the past few days, the Houthis announced the opening of roads closed for years in Marib, Al-Bayda, and Taiz governorates.

Yemeni government officials doubt the Houthis' seriousness in their moves, which coincides with a large-scale military escalation against the Southern forces of the Southern Transitional Council (STC) in Lahj and Al-Dhalea governorates in South Yemen.

On March 14, the STC had said that it rejects any unilateral measures aimed at opening roads and crossings, referring to the Houthis’ attempts to unilaterally open roads and crossings between South and North. The STC said the process must be done under the supervision of the UN, security committees, and international and local oversight from both parties.

The statement had come two days after an attempt by the Houthis to open a road linking Aden to Sanaa through Al-Dhalea Governorate failed after an exchange of fire between an armed Houthi convoy and Southern forces at a military contact line in the Murais region, in the north of Al-Dhalea Governorate.