By Abu Bakar Bah
The President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Dr. Julius Maada Bio, says the Saudi-Africa Summit held in the capital of Riyadh, is timely to enhance political coordination between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, and the African continent as a whole.President Bio was speaking at the first Saudi-Africa Summit, also known as the Saudi-African Partnership, which was held at the Palace of Conferences in the capital Riyadh on Friday, 10th November, 2023.
The President reiterated the need for political coordination and stronger partnerships on mutual interests between the host country, Saudi Arabia, and Sierra Leone, as well as the African continent in general.
“The Saudi-Africa Summit is very timely, as it would further foster joint actions for economic development and investment cooperation between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the African continent,” the President said.
President Bio assured the Summit that his government looks forward to exploring avenues of strategic cooperation that align with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, African Union’s Agenda 2063, and his Big Five National Development priority areas of his administration.
Earlier, during the opening ceremony, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, His Royal Highness, Prince Mohamed Bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, welcomed the African Heads of State to the Summit, on behalf of the King of the Kingdom and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
At the Summit, Crown Prince MBS announced the launch of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques’ Development Initiative in Africa, by inaugurating development projects and programmes worth over $1 billion in countries of the continent over a period of 10 years. He said that in addition, the Kingdom was also planning to inject new investments in Africa worth over $25 billion in various sectors, secure $10 billion from exports, and provide a development finance of more than $5 billion in different sectors until 2030. He said the Kingdom would support the African Union to get a permanent membership in the G20 and was in gear to increase its Embassies in Africa to more than 40.
The Crown Prince said Saudi Arabia and African countries are keen on strengthening cooperation to entrench security and peace in the Arab-African regions and the rest of the world.
The Crown Prince disclosed that Saudi Arabia has provided more than $45 billion to support development and humanitarian projects in 54 African countries, adding that the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre has also provided support of $450 million in 46 African countries.
He assured African Heads of State at the summit that his country would continue with its support and partnership relations with the African continent.
The Summit also discussed the crisis between Israel and Palestine, as well as the conflict in Sudan.
Immediately after the opening of the first ever Saudi-Africa Summit in Riyahd, President said in a tweet:
“Under the high patronage of His Majesty King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, I joined other World Leaders from Africa for the maiden edition of the Saudi-African Summit in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
In my Address at the Summit, I reiterated the timeliness of the Summit to enhance political coordination between the Kingdom and Africa, fostering joint actions, economic development, and investment cooperation.I conveyed Sierra Leone’s readiness to strengthen trade and diplomatic ties between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Arab world and other African nations.My Government looks forward to exploring avenues of strategic cooperation that aligns with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and my Government’s Big Five national development priorities.I also assured the August gathering that as Sierra Leone takes its non-permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council as a post-conflict nation for the 2024-2025 term, we are deeply aware of our shared duty to uphold international peace and security.”
The author of this article *Abu Bakarr Bah is Information Attaché, Sierra Leone Embassy in SaudiArabia*
Copy right –Printed in the Expo Times News on Monday, November 13th, 2023 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)