Saudi Arabia will sign over $500 million deal agreements with African countries. This is according to a November 9 report via Reuters.
According to the report, during the ongoing Saudi-Arab-African Economic Conference in Riyadh, Saudi officials made significant announcements regarding financial commitments and investments in African countries.
Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan revealed that the Saudi Fund for Development would finalize agreements amounting to 2 billion riyals ($533 million) with various African nations.
Al-Jadaan emphasized the collaborative efforts with partners to aid countries like Ghana in managing their debts. Additionally, Saudi Investment Minister Khalid Al-Falih unveiled plans for substantial and transformative investments in Africa through Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which boasts a wealth of over $700 billion. Al-Falih described these investments as “game-changing.”
Furthermore, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman inked initial agreements during the conference, focusing on energy-related collaboration with countries such as Nigeria, Senegal, Chad, and Ethiopia. These agreements signify the kingdom’s intentions to foster cooperation and investment in energy initiatives across Africa.
Note that the Saudi Press Agency reported on Wednesday, November 98, that the Saudi-Arab-African Economic Conference aims to fortify partnerships in economic and investment sectors.
The conference seeks to foster agreements and investments in vital areas such as food security, bolstering agricultural, industrial, and mining ties, as well as expanding commercial partnerships.
Additionally, the event will focus on advancing environmental trade between Saudi Arabia and African nations while establishing a platform for mutual exporters and importers. The goal is to build stronger economic collaboration between the two regions.
A similar pledge
Recall that On September 5, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) made a significant commitment of $4.5 billion to support clean energy initiatives in Africa. This pledge was unveiled during the Africa Climate Summit held in Kenya.
At the time, Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, the President-Designate of COP28, outlined that this initiative would focus on channeling investments into African countries that have well-defined strategies for transitioning to clean energy, robust regulatory frameworks, and comprehensive plans for advancing their electricity grid infrastructure. This initiative was designed to accelerate the transition to cleaner and more sustainable energy sources on the African continent.
The funds for this ambitious project will be provided by several prominent entities, including Masdar, a clean-energy producer from Abu Dhabi, the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, Etihad Credit Insurance, the nation’s export credit agency, and AMEA Power, a Dubai-based company specializing in renewable energy. Their collective efforts aim to drive the adoption of clean energy solutions and support Africa’s sustainable development while addressing the challenges posed by climate change.
It is always interesting to see that Africa and the Nations of Africa are always in this position of “needing” help and assistance from decade to decade. Where are our own initiative to bring real hange to our countries and continent? We should once ask ourselves which durable benefits we have incurred through these helps, except that a few individuals enrich themselves in Africa through it, while the other cooperating “partner” reaps the benefits
Interested
You have said it all, the developed countries are focusing on Africa now because of our ignorance on how best and efficient ways of managing our natural resources. China is already neck deep in milking all our resources, now the Saudis have realised to be a part of the Super Power ring they would need a bite of our natural resources. A paltry $ 500m investment not only for one country but for multiple countries I see it as a flash in the pan . African leaders should put out a well rehearsed and effective strategy and lead the investment drive than they the developed nations identifying their needs in Africa and drawing us in, honestly we don’t know the motive behind their invite
We need to put up research think tanks on all these developed nations and based on the reports we will be in a better position to talk business with them, otherwise we are always deficient when we go to the bargaining table.
Wonderful for African countries if they’re committed to the same.