Saudi Arabia looks to Africa for economic opportunities 
On the sidelines of the Saudi-Arab-African Economic Conference in Riyadh on Nov. 9, a Saudi-African Summit was also held in the capital, in the hope of strengthening the economic and trade ties between the Kingdom and the African continent.
Saudi Arabia and Africa share characteristics that go beyond geographical proximity. They share commonality in a number of economic sectors, including mining, industry, tourism, finance, sport, logistics, and transportation. The size of their combined economy is $4 trillion.
There is clearly opportunity for economic ties between the Kingdom and African countries to develop further, especially since Saudi Arabia is located at the crossroads of three continents (Asia, Europe and Africa), giving it the potential to become a major hub for Africa economically.
Africa is the second-largest continent in the world after Asia, with an economy worth around $3 trillion. And it includes five of the 10 fastest-growing economies in the world.
There is clearly opportunity for economic ties between the Kingdom and African countries to develop further, especially since Saudi Arabia is located at the crossroads of three continents (Asia, Europe and Africa), giving it the potential to become a major hub for Africa economically.
The Saudi economy is the largest in the MENA region with a total value exceeding $1 trillion. It is the 17th-largest economy in the world, and was one of the fastest-growing last year, at a rate of 8.7 percent — higher than several advanced economies including the US, the UK, France, and Germany.
Trade between Saudi Arabia and African countries so far in 2003 is more than SR74 billion ($19.7 billion), of which exports represent SR53.1billion and imports SR21.7 billion. At the moment, then, the trade balance is leaning in favor of Saudi Arabia.
Saudi non-oil exports to Africa grew by 5.96 percent between 2018 and 2022, reaching SR31.94 billion last year, and total Saudi investments in the African continent over the last 10 years amounted to SR49.5 billion. There are 47 Saudi companies currently operating in Africa.
More than 50 agreements and MoUs were signed during the recent conference, covering tourism, investment, finance, energy, renewable energy, mining, transportation and logistics services, agriculture, and water.
I believe that expanding the economic and trade partnership between the Kingdom and Africa will be mutually beneficial to both Saudi Vision 2030 and Africa’s Agenda 2063, meaning it will also benefit all of the countries and people involved.
• Talat Zaki Hafiz is an economist and financial analyst. Twitter: @TalatHafiz
