By Adedapo Adesanya
The government of Saudi Arabia led by the Crown Prince, Mohammed Bin Salman, has promised to assist Nigeria in solving its foreign exchange (forex) crisis, which has weakened the value of the Naira.
Over the weekend, President Bola Tinubu was in the Middle East giant for the Saudi-Africa Summit in Riyadh and both parties used the occasion to discuss bilateral ties.
Mr Bin Salman, in a talk with his guest, expressed the readiness of his country to support Nigeria in the areas of foreign exchange, agriculture, and energy among others.
According to a statement signed by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mr Muhammed Idris, the Saudi Crown Prince commended the recent reforms of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The Crown Prince, who handles most of the Head of State duties due to the ailing health of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, promised to support the reforms being implemented by the apex bank and also revamp Nigeria’s existing refineries through its state-owned oil company, Aramco.
“To support the Central Bank’s ongoing reforms of Nigeria’s foreign exchange regime, the Saudi Government will make available a substantial deposit of foreign exchange to boost Nigeria’s forex liquidity.
“Prince Bin Salman commended the economic reforms being implemented by President Tinubu and expressed the commitment of the Saudi Government to supporting these reforms and enabling Nigeria to reap the full benefits,” the statement said.
“In addition to these, Prince bin Salman also highlighted Agriculture and Renewable Energy as areas of investment interest for Saudi Arabia, in Nigeria, to help the country attain food and energy security, respectively.
“The Crown Prince hinted that the refinery investments in Nigeria will be led by the Saudi state-owned oil company, Saudi Aramco, with the revamp to be completed within a two- to three-year timeframe,” the statement added.
