- Saudi Arabia To Inject FX Into Nigeria, Promises To Revamp Refineries
The recent trip by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia seems to be yielding results already if recent happenings are anything to go by.
The Matrix gathered that the government of Saudi Arabia has promised to inject a substantial amount of foreign exchange into Nigeria to boost liquidity in the country’s FX market.
This is even as the Middle Eastern country also promised to revamp Nigeria’s existing refineries through its state-owned oil company, Aramco.
Earlier, the two countries had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to fortify bilateral ties and advance mutual interests in the oil and gas sector.
Thereafter, during a bilateral engagement between President Tinubu and the Kingdom’s leader, Crown Prince, HRH Mohammed Bin Salman, the Saudi Crown Prince reiterated his support of the reforms being implemented by the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Federal government.
These developments were disclosed in a statement signed by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Muhammed Idris.
According to the statement, the Saudi Crown Prince commended the recent reforms by the CBN and also promised to support Nigeria in other areas.
It stated, “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. According to him, Saudi Arabia is very eager to see Nigeria thrive under President Bola Tinubu, and realize its full potential as the economic giant of Africa.”
Beyond that, the Kingdom’s leader also made a commitment to support Nigeria in areas of agriculture, renewable energy and the oil industry with plans to revamp Nigeria’s refinery within three years.
The statement read, “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 two leaders committed to fashioning out a roadmap to develop discussed during the meeting.
