Nigeria secures landmark investment agreements with Saudi Arabia

Nigeria has secured a mouth watering investment pledges from the Saudi Arabian government as the two countries seek to renew their bilateral relations.

The deals included the Saudi government’s pledge to invest in the renovation of Nigeria’s moribund oil refineries and provide financial assistance to the government’s foreign-exchange reforms.

The agreements were struck during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Saudi-Africa summit in Riyadh between Nigerian President Bola Tinubu and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

President Tinubu thanked the Saudi leader for the proposed investments, and pledged that Nigeria would ensure judicious management and oversight. The two leaders vowed to work together over the next six months to develop a comprehensive road-map and blueprint to deliver on the agreed investments and outcomes.

Nigeria has launched daring reforms under President Tinubu, eliminating a popular but costly petrol subsidy and unifying the country’s numerous exchange rates as part of measures “aimed at improving the ease of doing business.”

Commenting on the agreement, Information Minister Mohammed Idris, in a statement, said the Saudi government is committed to make “a substantial deposit of foreign exchange to boost Nigeria’s forex liquidity” in the face of a biting foreign exchange crisis.

Earlier, the Nigerian leader assured potential Saudi investors of the safety of their investments in Africa’s largest economy.

He further called for collaboration between Saudi and Nigerian to fight extremist insurgencies and other security challenges across the most populous nation in Africa.