Trade Nigeria nears trade deal with Saudi Arabia By Neil Halligan November 13, 2024, 6:01 PM Alamy via Reuters President of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu: Saudi Crown Prince assured Nigeria of support in its economic reform programmes and cooperation in oil and gas, agriculture and infrastructure Economic reform programmes Rising inflation and cost of living Saudi government support Nigeria is looking to finalise a $5 billion bilateral trade facility with Saudi Arabia, it said, following a meeting between its president, Bola Tinubu, and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh. The pair met on the sidelines of the joint Arab-Islamic Summit, which was convened to discuss the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. Following the meeting, Nigeria issued a statement outlining the various issues raised during their discussion. The two leaders spoke about potential areas for cooperation, particularly oil and gas, agriculture and infrastructure, and the constitution of the Saudi-Nigeria Business Council, which was formed in May this year. Nigeria said the Saudi Crown Prince assured them of support in its economic reform programmes. No details were provided on the facility but following a meeting between the two leaders in November last year Nigeria’s information minister Mohammed Idris said the Saudi government pledged to make “a substantial deposit of foreign exchange to boost Nigeria’s forex liquidity”. During that visit Tinubu also met with top officials of the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank to negotiate a “multi-billion-dollar infrastructure finance facility” to help build ports and power plants. Nigeria and Morocco renew focus on gas pipeline project UAE believes trade with Africa is worth the risk Nigeria-UAE trade tipped to recover as Emirates restarts flights In May the two countries agreed to strengthen bilateral relations, particularly in agriculture, trade and economic opportunities. The Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment Company (Salic) invested $1.24 billion in 2022 to acquire a 35.43 percent stake in Olam Agri, one of Nigeria’s leading agricultural firms. Nigeria’s presidency said talks are ongoing about increasing Salic’s stake in the company. Nigeria’s non-oil imports from Saudi Arabia reached $400 million last year, and Saudi imports were $19.7 million, according to UN Comtrade’s figures.
