Saudi Arabia turns to Africa
Their increasing engagement signals Riyadh’s broader foreign policy and economic ambitions
Saudi Arabia is increasingly interested in building economic and diplomatic ties with Africa. Not long ago, the continent was nowhere near a priority in Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s foreign policy and investment agenda. This appears to have changed, however, as Riyadh has made multiple attempts to increase its influence over the past year by expanding into African financial and energy markets.
Earlier this month, it hosted a summit with leaders from 50 nations across Africa and the Middle East, the first such gathering of Arab and African dignitaries since 2013. Among the participants was the chair of the African Union, as well as representatives from Gabon, Burkina Faso and Niger, whose memberships in the AU have been suspended due to recent military coups.
Saudi Arabia is part of a growing list of countries that is offering African nations alternatives to traditional partners such as Russia, the U.S., Europe and China. Also on this list are Saudi Arabia’s Middle Eastern rivals Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, which have established strong ties in recent years in different areas of the continent. Turkey has focused its efforts on former members of the Ottoman Empire in North Africa, though it’s been looking to expand into the Horn of Africa as well.
The UAE, in contrast, has historically had strong ties with much of East Africa, including Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania and Somalia. Iran, meanwhile, has strong relations with certain regimes in the region, though its investment opportunities have shrunk due to its own domestic issues. Riyadh was initially slow to react to these shifts. The recent summit – and increasing focus of its Vision 2030 initiative on African investment – was an acknowledgment of its thriving interest there.
Russia, the European Union, the United States, China and Japan have also held recent summits with leaders from the continent, highlighting a growing appetite for Africa’s mineral wealth, trade ties and investment opportunities. The Saudis, however, have an advantage over these other sources given the amount of investment and development financing that they’re willing to offer.
Part of Mohammed bin Salman’s strategic vision includes diversifying the kingdom’s economy and reducing its reliance on oil wealth – priorities that were laid out in the country’s National Industrial Strategy. This includes developing renewable energy and green tech, which will require raw minerals most easily obtainable from partners in Africa.
Funds
At the summit, Salman announced that the Saudi Fund for Development would provide $5 billion for development projects in African countries by 2030. Investors pledged a total of $25 billion for the continent as part of Vision 2030, the massive Saudi plan to overhaul its economy. The initiative has focused heavily on investing in non-oil energy projects but recently expanded into other fields including construction of hospitals and other infrastructure. Overall, its investments outside of Saudi Arabia – in other parts of the Middle East, North and South America and Asia – have been
At the summit Riyadh also proposed spending $10 billion to support Saudi exports to Africa. Saudi-African trade has been growing steadily, with non-oil Saudi exports increasing by 6 percent per year on average since 2018. Riyadh also signed 14 loan agreements worth $533 million with 12 countries for projects involving health care, water, education and transport. They included loans to Burkina Faso, Niger and Guinea, all of which are currently sanctioned by the African Union.
These countries have very few prospects when it comes to investors besides Russia, which has traditionally placed no political conditions on its investments.
The Saudis, however, have also adopted a pragmatic approach to financing and attach few strings to the funding they offer. For Riyadh, these countries’ resources, need for financial support, and limited options make them attractive investment opportunities. Many are already heavily indebted to China, making them wary of accepting any more aid from Beijing.
Oil and gas
Other deals involved oil and gas projects, an area in which Riyadh has significant expertise. On the sidelines of the summit, the Saudi and Nigerian leaders signed a series of large investment and cooperation deals including the overhaul of four defunct Nigerian oil refineries. The Saudis also said they would make a “substantial” foreign exchange deposit to help bolster Nigeria’s flailing currency. Prior to the summit, the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding pledging enhanced cooperation in the oil and gas industries.
Smaller-scale agreements were reached with other oilproducing countries including Chad, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Senegal, while Ghana received foreign currency deposits to help pay off its debts. Some of these deals included investments in green technology, part of Saudi Arabia’s effort to expand its portfolio into alternative energy. Last year, it signed agreements to invest approximately $15 billion in South Africa for long-term cooperation on renewable energy, industry, mining, tourism and agriculture.
A number of factors are driving this engagement. In the past, Saudi involvement in Africa was motivated by political gains and short-term economic goals. Today, however, the Saudis have a broader vision. They believe engagement with the continent and beyond will facilitate their rise as a dominant player in the Middle East and in an emerging multipolar world.
Trade with Africa will also help the kingdom grow its nonoil revenue, which it believes can increase exponentially over the next decade. The Saudis want to become a leader in the renewable energy sector in order to maintain their dominant position in the broader energy market. To this end, Africa has the potential to supply the needed inputs for green technology production within Saudi Arabia.
There’s also an ideological element. Under Salman, Riyadh has positioned itself as the leader of the Islamic world. Africa is home to over a third of the world’s Muslim population, with 40% of people in the continent identifying as Muslim.
Saudi media have widely covered the relationship between the Arab world and Africa (often using the term “Afrabia”) and emphasized Riyadh’s role in building closer ties. Saudi Arabia is also set to join South Africa in becoming a member of the BRICS grouping next year.
In trying to play a leadership role, Saudi Arabia is in direct competition with Turkey and the UAE, which have been strengthening their positions in Africa over the past two decades.
Since 2006, Ankara has increased its number of embassies on the continent from 11 to 44. It has focused its investments on certain Islamic countries such as Somalia, Nigeria, Morocco, Libya and Algeria.
Turkey also has significant trade with Africa, totaling $34 billion in 2021. Abu Dhabi, meanwhile, has expanded its role in Africa since the early 2010s through political alliances, aid, investment and defense cooperation. Just last month, the UAE’s DP World signed a $250 million agreement to operate a port in Tanzania for 30 years. The UAE has been focused on the Horn of Africa, maintaining a base in Djibouti and good relations with both Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Similarly, Iran has long had interests in Africa, but its position has stagnated. Trade is low in comparison to its Middle Eastern competitors, reaching less than $2 billion in 2022.
Prior to this, however, Tehran had for at least two decades provided financial and military support to countries in East Africa, including financing construction projects in Sudan and Eritrea. It also had investments in Kenya, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo as a way of generating capital despite its economy being heavy sanctioned.
Riyadh sees Iran’s decline as an opportunity. Until recently, Saudi Arabia was seen as a much smaller player in the Islamic communities of Africa.
But the crown prince is hoping to upend this trend as part of his wider project of establishing a leadership role for Riyadh in the Islamic world.
To that end, the Riyadh Declaration, signed by participants at the conclusion of the Arab-Africa summit, called for a halt to hostilities in the Israel-Hamas war and protections for civilians affected by the fighting, enhancing the Saudis’ credentials as a global force.
In its engagement with Africa, Saudi Arabia sees potential to expand its cultural and political clout and accrue economic benefits, not to mention boost its security by building partnerships with Red Sea coastal states. It now has both the economic means and the political will to do so. The summit signaled its intent to increase its presence here – and in the process establish its economy and international standing as a global powerhouse.