The Crown Prince announces pumping Saudi investments worth $25 billion into various sectors in Africa

His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, deputizing for Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, inaugurated the Saudi-African Summit in Riyadh today.

Before the start of the summit, group photos were taken for HRH the Crown Prince and the leaders and heads of the participating countries.

At the outset of the summit, verses from the Holy Quran were recited.

Chairing the meeting, HRH the Crown Prince delivered the following speech:

“In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful,

Your Excellencies and honorable attendees,

Peace be upon you,

On behalf of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, we are pleased to welcome you and to convey to you the King’s wishes for the success of this first Saudi-African Summit.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and African countries are keen to enhance cooperation in a way that contributes to establishing security and peace in the region and the whole world.

We condemn the military aggression witnessed in Gaza Strip, the targeting of civilians, and the continued violation of international humanitarian law by the Israeli occupying authority. We stress the need to stop this war and forced displacement, as well as to create conditions for the return of stability and for achieving peace.

The Kingdom and African countries support all efforts aimed at achieving security and stability. In this regard, we welcome the resumption of the Jeddah talks, with representatives of the two sides of the crisis in Sudan, and hope that the language of dialogue will be the basis for preserving the unity of the Republic of Sudan, and the security of its people and assets.

Your Excellencies,

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has provided more than $45 billion to support development and humanitarian projects in 54 African countries. The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) aid has reached more than $450 million in 46 African countries. We, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, are determined to develop cooperation and partnership with African countries and expand areas of trade and integration.

In this regard, we are pleased to announce the launch of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques’ Development Initiative in Africa by inaugurating development projects and programs worth over $1 billion in countries of the continent, over ten years. We also look forward to making new Saudi investments, worth more than $25 billion, in various sectors, financing $10 billion in exports and providing $5 billion in additional development financing to Africa until 2030.

The Kingdom will increase the number of embassies in Africa to more than 40.

In recognition of Africa’s role, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was among the first nations to publicly endorse the African Union’s bid for permanent membership in the Group of Twenty (G20).

The Kingdom is keen to support innovative solutions to address African debt, as it sought during its presidency of the G20 in 2020 to launch initiatives to suspend debt service payments during the pandemic for low-income countries, and the Common Framework for Debt Treatments initiative in many African.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia supports sustainable development and recognizes every country’s right to utilize their resources and capacities. We reaffirm our commitment to ensuring the security and durability of energy supplies, benefiting from all energy sources, developing clean fuel solutions, and providing food to over 750 million Africans.

We aim to host Expo 2030 in Riyadh, to present an unprecedented version in the history of this exhibition that may contribute to projecting a better future for humanity.

We look forward to your participation in highlighting the important role of Africa, its human and natural resources, growth opportunities, and future potential.

We are confident that this summit will achieve, by the grace of Allah, our aspirations for further cooperation and partnership between Saudi Arabia and African countries.

May peace and mercy be upon you.”

The official Saudi delegation included Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Minister of State and Member of the Cabinet Prince Turki bin Mohammed bin Fahd bin Abdulaziz, Minister of Interior Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif bin Abdulaziz, Minister of the National Guard Prince Abdullah bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz, Minister of Defense Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah, and Minister of State, Member of the Cabinet and National Security Advisor Dr. Musaed bin Mohammed Al-Aiban.