By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Saudi Arabia’s Finance Minister, Mohammed al-Jadaan has announced that Saudi Fund for Development will sign agreements worth 2 billion riyals ($533 million) with African countries.
Jadaan stated this on Thursday during the Saudi-Arab-African Economic Conference in Riyadh which has some African leaders in attendance.
“We are working with partners to support Ghana and other countries regarding their debt,” Jadaan added.
Also speaking, Saudi Investment Minister Khalid al-Falih later said the Kingdom’s over $700 billion wealth fund as well as the Public Investment Fund, will make some “game changing” investments in the African continent.
Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, also at the conference, signed preliminary agreements with African countries including Nigeria, Senegal, Chad and Ethiopia on energy-related cooperation.
Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu is one of the African leaders taking part at the Saudi-Africa summit in Riyadh.
“Discussions at the first Saudi-Africa summit will revolve around supporting joint action, enhancing political coordination, … facilitating economic transformation through research and the local development of new energy solutions, all while bolstering cross-sectoral investment cooperation,” Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale said in a statement.
Nigeria is seeking more investments across various sectors, particularly mining, where huge potentials have remained largely untapped amidts dwindling fortunes of the oil sector.
