Saudi Arabia fuels sports diplomacy to cement and expand economic ties with Africa

Saudi Arabia is ramping up its use of sports diplomacy to solidify and expand economic ties with Africa, viewing it as a key pillar of its Vision 2030 plan to reduce reliance on oil.

Bonface Orucho, bird story agency

Saudi Arabia is intensifying sports partnerships with Africa to explore new opportunities beyond oil. This strategy highlights Africa’s rich sporting heritage and its growing economic significance on the global stage.

Recently, Patrice Motsepe, the president of the Confédération Africaine de Football, and Turki bin Abdulmohsen Alalshikh, the chairman of the General Entertainment Authority (GEA), announced that Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, will host the TotalEnergies CAF Super Cup Final 2024.

According to Motsepe, “the partnership between CAF and Saudi Arabia is based on the excellent relationship and mutual commitment of both the parties.”

The TotalEnergies CAF Super Cup Final 2024 will feature the current winners of the CAF Champions League, Al Ahly SC and the current winners of the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup, Zamalek SC and will be played on Friday 27 September 2024.

This marks the second major involvement from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in African football after “Visit Saudi”, the official tourism partner of Saudi Arabia injected more than US$200 million in sponsorship for the inaugural African Football League.

The sponsorship was part of a 5-year working agreement that CAF and the Saudi Soccer Federation signed just before the AFL deal.

Saudi Arabia’s major financial investments in sports, including African sports, are key to its Vision 2030 plan to diversify its economy away from oil, which has long been its main revenue source.

The burgeoning relationship between African sports and Saudi Arabia offers promising opportunities for African athletes, granting them greater access to the global sports arena that the kingdom is helping to shape.

Saudi’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) bought English Premier League side, Newcastle United in 2021, while the country’s domestic league which previously had little international profile, grew immensely in stature and popularity when in 2023 Saudi side Al Nassr signed Cristiano Ronaldo and kicked off a revolution in the Saudi Pro League.

Today, the league boasts some of the world’s biggest football talents, including Neymar, Karim Benzema, and N’Golo Kante. It also features top African players like Senegal’s Sadio Mane, Kalidou Koulibaly, and Edouard Mendy, as well as Nigerian forward Odion Ighalo and Algerian international Riyad Mahrez.

Beyond sports, Saudi Arabia considers Africa a key region in its Vision 2030 plan, evidenced by increasing investments in other sectors on the continent and intensifying diplomatic footprint in the region.

The Saudi Fund for Development, a concessional fund, is aiding the development of over 40 African countries. Additionally, the Kingdom is the principal donor to the Islamic Development Bank.

More investments are flowing into Africa from Saudi Arabia, especially following the inaugural Saudi-Africa Summit in November 2023, where the Kingdom secured various investment and diplomatic agreements with multiple African countries.

One landmark agreement was achieved by Nigeria with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia committing to renovate four state refineries in Nigeria within two to three years. Sierra Leone also secured a US$50 million soft loan to construct a world-class referral hospital in Lungi.

These investment commitments complement existing initiatives in South Africa and Egypt, Saudi Arabia’s two main trading partners on the continent.

Also, at the summit, Saudi Arabia proposed an allocation of US$10 billion as insurance for Saudi exports until 2030 and an additional US$5 billion in development financing for African nations.

Furthermore, the King Salman Development Initiative of over US$1 billion was launched for Africa and is projected to continue over 10 years.

Bilateral trade between Saudi Arabia and Africa reached US$45 billion in 2022, marking a significant increase over the past five years. Saudi Arabia exports rubber, chemicals, consumer goods, minerals, metals, and food products to Africa, while importing metals, raw materials, vegetables, stone, and glass products from the continent.

Notably, Saudi non-oil exports to Africa have grown at an annual rate of 6% between 2018 and 2022.

According to the Observer Research Foundation, an Indian think tank of economists and policymakers, since King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman came to power, numerous Heads of state from Africa have visited the Kingdom bagging different development and diplomatic deals with the kingdom.

“US$5 billion to finance African countries’ development an excess of 50 agreements and MoUs worth US$533 million (have been) inked by the Saudi Development Fund with 12 African states,” ORF reported in December 2023.

Some of these collaborative development projects are already taking shape, such as Saudi’s new logistics zone in the port of Djibouti, which was commissioned last month in a 92-year contract.

According to the Saudi Press Agency, “The Saudi logistics city, serving as a nexus for commerce and innovation, is positioned to strengthen the Kingdom’s economic presence across the African continent.”

The two regions are also increasing their diplomatic relations. At the Saudi-Africa Summit, Saudi Arabia declared its intention to increase its diplomatic presence on the continent, adding new embassies from about 27 to over 40.

bird story agency