Not so long ago, Saudi Arabia was a country that, in many ways, liked to keep itself to itself. The Kingdom has, of course, been a prolific exporter of oil to world markets for decades. For much longer, it has also welcomed millions of pilgrims from across the Muslim world for the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.
But, until recently, few Saudi companies outside the oil sector achieved significant success when venturing overseas. Beyond the annual Hajj, Saudi Arabia did not make much effort to attract tourists. With its state coffers filled to bursting with oil revenues, the Kingdom’s secretive decision-makers felt little need to build more expansive business ties with the outside world.
That all changed with the coming to power of Mohammed bin Salman, who became crown prince and de facto ruler of the Kingdom in 2017. MbS, as he is sometimes known, has brought a much deeper focus to strengthening the non-oil economy. This extends to a push to strengthen trade and investment with foreign partners.
Saudi Arabia’s more outward-looking stance, a key part of its Vision 2030 plan for a more dynamic non-oil economy, is not limited to any specific region. Yet the African continent lies just a stone’s throw from Saudi Arabia’s western shoreline on the Red Sea, and investment in the continent now forms a significant part of the Kingdom’s ambitious economic agenda.
Into Africa
Riyadh sent an unmistakable signal of its interest in Africa in November 2023, when it convened the first ever Saudi-Africa Summit. “We, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, are determined to develop cooperation and partnership with African countries and expand areas of trade and integration,” bin Salman told assembled African heads of state. Saudi Arabia, he added, would invest more than $25bn in Africa over the next seven years, alongside $5bn in development finance.
A year later, Saudi finance minister Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Jadaan raised the pledge to $41bn over the next decade, including $10bn through the Saudi Export-Import Bank and $5bn in funding for start-ups through the Saudi Fund for Development.
The Kingdom’s newfound interest in Africa reflects a mix of strategic and economic factors. “Overall, Saudi investment in African markets appears to be part of a long-term strategy combining economic diversification and resource security, suggesting sustained engagement over the coming decades,” says Pratibha Thaker, editorial director for Middle East and Africa at the Economist Intelligence Unit.
The state-owned Public Investment Fund (PIF) – perhaps best known internationally for its investments in professional football clubs at home and overseas – is spearheading the push into Africa, with a range of investments through its subsidiary entities.
“Saudi Arabia’s growing investment in Africa is largely driven by its Vision 2030 strategy, which aims to diversify the economy beyond oil and expand global economic partnerships,” Thaker adds. “Africa offers opportunities in natural resources, agriculture, infrastructure development and fast-growing consumer markets. Investment also supports Saudi objectives of food security, access to critical minerals for the energy transition and strengthening trade routes, particularly around the Red Sea and Indian Ocean.”
Crossing the Red Sea
In taking its first steps into Africa, Saudi investment entities have tended to focus mostly on North Africa, or on their near neighbours in the Horn of Africa.
Djibouti has become a particular country of focus. The Kingdom sees the tiny country as “its strategic gateway to trade and transport networks in East Africa,” says Joseph Siegle, director of research at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies.
He points to the “Saudi Logistics City”, established in Djibouti in 2024 with a 92-year lease, along with a $12.7bn oil refinery project that is under construction in the Djibouti Damerjog International Park free zone. In October last year, meanwhile, Saudi company Red Sea Gateway Terminal – which is 20% owned by the PIF – secured a concession agreement to operate the Port of Tadjourah in Djibouti.
Security considerations in the Horn of Africa are also important from a Saudi perspective. When Saudi exports through the Gulf were threatened by Iran’s blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, the Red Sea became an even more important artery for the Saudi economy.
However, trade flows through the Red Sea have often been threatened in recent years by attacks from Houthi forces in Yemen, which the Saudis have been attempting to counter with mixed success for more than a decade. Saudi security interests extend to the opposite side of the Red Sea; the Kingdom maintains a military base in Djibouti under a 2017 agreement.
“As long as the Houthis remain a threat, it will be vital for Saudi Arabia to maintain a strong security presence in and around the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden,” says Torbjorn Soltvedt, principal Middle East analyst at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft. “From a security perspective, Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea and Djibouti are all important to Saudi Arabia’s ambitions in the region.”
Food and minerals
The focus on ports and logistics, particularly along parts of the East African coastline that lie closest to Saudi shores, reflects the Kingdom’s interest in securing commodity imports from Africa.
“Given Africa’s abundant natural resource reserves, expanding markets, 230+ commercial ports and growing trade across the globe, Africa is an attractive pathway for the Saudi Arabian strategy,” says Siegle. “Saudi Arabia, accordingly, is aligning its engagements in Africa along these sectors, specifically energy and port development.”
Saudi officials have expressed particular interest in securing supplies of agricultural commodities from Africa. The harsh desert environment in Saudi Arabia means the Kingdom depends on imports to meet at least 80% of its food needs.
Riyadh views Africa as an important part of its food security strategy. The continent can be a “breadbasket and food basket for the rest of the world,” Saudi investment minister Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih told an investment summit in October 2024.
The PIF-owned Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment Company (SALIC) has focused on making strategic investments in food producers around the world, including in Africa. In February 2025, it raised its stake in Olam Agri, a key producer of food commodities in West Africa, to 80%.
Mining is another key priority, as the Kingdom seeks to become a global hub for mineral processing. “There is a concerted effort to acquire stakes in African mining projects to provide feedstock for refining and battery production while Saudi Arabia’s own mining sector ramps up,” says Soltvedt.
Powering relations
Although Saudi Arabia’s economy continues to be dominated by oil production, perhaps the best-known Saudi company operating in Africa is a renewable energy developer. Acwa (formerly known as ACWA Power) is developing a range of large-scale solar and wind projects in countries including Egypt, Morocco and South Africa, alongside investments in desalination and green hydrogen production.
In December 2025 Acwa signed a cooperation framework with the African Development Bank (AfDB) for the financing of a $5bn pipeline of clean energy and water projects until 2030. Hashim Ghabashi, Acwa’s president for the Africa region, described the deal as a marker of the company’s “unwavering commitment” to the continent, adding that it would be “a crucial step toward achieving energy and water security for millions”.
Acwa also describes itself as the world’s largest private desalination company. Saudi Arabia is highly reliant on this technology, and companies such as Acwa are well-positioned to export Saudi expertise to Africa as climate change forces the continent to consider new approaches to securing water supplies. A planned $800m Acwa desalination facility in Senegal is set to be the largest in Africa when it begins operating in 2031.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia will soon be able to directly import and export electricity to and from Africa. Officials said in February that a 3,000 MW high-voltage interconnector spanning the Red Sea between Egypt and Saudi Arabia is now in the final stages of testing, ahead of commissioning in the coming weeks.
A future transmission link with Ethiopia is also on the cards, as the East African country seeks to find export options for its abundant sources of hydropower.
African attitudes
The growth in Saudi interest in Africa is mirrored by intrigue in African capitals about the possibilities of harnessing investment flows from the Kingdom.
“Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states more broadly are viewed by many African governments as an important source of investment, especially in energy,” says Soltvedt. “There is also a growing sense that investments from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states have fewer conditions attached to them compared with European investors, which make integrated energy projects with an oil and gas component more feasible.”
African attitudes towards Saudi Arabia have evolved considerably in recent years as the Kingdom has begun to accelerate its foreign investment efforts. While Riyadh was often seen as a remote presence, despite its relative proximity to Africa, it is now one of the first places that African leaders turn to in the hunt for investment.
Sidi Ould Tah was elected as AfDB president last year, with his campaign based around his ability to draw on his track record leading the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) in securing investment from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.
After taking the helm at the AfDB, Tah visited Riyadh for an investment conference last October, shortly after meeting with the heads of the Saudi Export-Import Bank and Saudi Fund for Development in Washington DC to firm up ties.
In January, meanwhile, Tah committed the AfDB to a strategic partnership with the Arab Coordination Group, made up of multiple Saudi and other Gulf-headquartered development finance institutions.
A long-term commitment?
With Saudi Arabia now on the front lines of regional conflict in the Middle East, and facing disruption to its oil and gas exports through the Strait of Hormuz, the Kingdom could be forgiven for turning its gaze away from Africa and towards more pressing commitments.
There has not yet been a sequel to the 2023 Saudi-Africa Summit – though this may reflect African fatigue at being summoned to foreign capitals for the ever-growing list of Africa-plus-one investment dialogues. Saudi investment pledges in Africa are dwarfed by those in other regions; MbS has committed to pouring nearly $1 trillion into the United States, for example.
And Saudi Arabia faces regional competition for investment and influence in Africa; the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is now by some measures the single largest investor in Africa.
Yet analysts are convinced that Saudi interest in Africa is here to stay.
“By all indications, Saudi Arabia’s investments in Africa are expected to continue to grow over the next 5 to 10 years. Moreover, we can expect the Kingdom’s engagements to expand geographically,” says Siegle.
Notwithstanding the current disruption to air travel in the Gulf, Siegle also highlights the growth in flight connections between Saudi Arabia and destinations in Africa. State-owned carrier Saudia operates flights to more than a dozen African cities, while budget airline Flynas is rapidly expanding its African routes from Riyadh and Jeddah.
“Saudi Arabia’s engagement with Africa is increasingly framed as a long-term strategic commitment,” says Thaker. “This reflects broader geopolitical and economic objectives tied to Vision 2030 and the Kingdom’s efforts to expand its global economic footprint.”
She adds that the type of investments that Saudi companies have made in Africa require an extended commitment. “Projects in renewable energy, mining, infrastructure, food and industrial zones typically involve decades-long planning, construction and operation phases,” Thaker points out.
“Saudi Arabia is seeking to secure food supplies, critical minerals and trade routes, particularly in regions close to the Red Sea and Indian Ocean,” Thaker notes. “Maintaining access to these resources and routes requires stable, long-term relationships with African economies.”