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The UN, the United States, and other bodies often send money to the West Bank and Gaza alike.  However, their  donations in Palestine end up being squandered due to the usual littany of complaints: no transparency and high levels of  bureaucracy.

Which is why it’s good news that

The Palestine Investment Fund (PIF), a publicly owned investment fund which aims to strengthen the Palestinian economy through key strategic investments, and private equity group Abraaj Capital announce the first closing of a US$50 million private equity fund dedicated to Palestine.

The private equity fund will focus on investing in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Palestine across a range of sectors and stages of maturity. Abraaj is the largest private equity group in the Middle East and North Africa, with offices in six countries.With a first closing at US$15 million, the private equity fund is the first of its kind dedicated to the Palestinian economy. The initial commitments from the sponsors – PIF and Abraaj – will be supplemented by funds raised from investors in further closings planned later this year.

because, as evidence has suggested, small and medium enterprises are the most effective at leveraging aid and transforming it into tangible results, at least in small countries like Bangladesh that could serve as a parallel for the West Bank, with a relatively young population,

For LDCs like Bangladesh, SMEs are a highly cost-effective route to industrial
development. The present size of the population in the 2-14 years age group is approximately
16 million. They will be candidates for new jobs.

It will be interesting to see how this project goes given that it’s funded by private industry rather than public partners.