• President Cyril Ramaphosa and a delegation team completed their state visit of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at the weekend.
• Local ministers signed as many as 17 Memoranda of Understanding with the Saudi government. 
• An estimated $15 billion in investments have been outlined between the two nations.

At the weekend a South African delegation of Minsters, led by President Cyril Ramaphosa, completed a successful state visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

This as the two nations were able to hash out several deals, according to Ramaphosa, with an estimated $15 billion in investments said to be in the works. If accurate, that would represent roughly R273 billion in investments, which is no doubt too good to pass up despite some of the human rights issues attached to the Saudi government and some of its leaders.

The aforementioned delegation consisted of the likes of Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor, Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Land Reform Thoko Didiza, Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Ebrahim Patel, Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe and Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula, SA News reports.

Here the ministers were able to hash out at least 17 Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) with the Saudi government, with a specific focus in as transport, defence, energy and agriculture.

“This has been a phenomenally successful visit for us and the good thing is that this visit has been more focused on the economy as well as advancing our diplomatic, as well as political relations with Saudi Arabia,” enthused Ramaphosa.

“But the economic side and the business side have really underpinned the real substance of this visit. We had extensive discussions with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince (Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud) last night… and we covered a great deal of ground. The fact that we signed up to 17 MOUs testifies to the real great success that we have achieved here,” he added.

This is not the first time that SA and Saudi Arabia have come to an agreement as regards investment, with $10 billion being outlined back in 2018 too. For those wondering why we have not been seeing the fruits of that investment locally, Ramaphosa highlighted COVID-19 as a hurdle.

“We are now going to be seeing more of those billions that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is very keen to invest in South Africa beginning to flow underpinned by the 17 MOUs that we have signed, and of course, our budget in 2018. COVID-19 intervened and stalled and delayed everything (,however,) we’re now going to see everything gathering pace and momentum,” he explained.

With our country ailing in many areas at the moment, with unemployment, a crippled power grid and the rising cost of living being the most visible, this significant investment comes at a critical time.

That said, taking money from the Saudi government does not come without strings, as a report from the Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj unpacked in the video below. To get a better idea of who the South African government is getting into bed with, we recommend watching it.

[Image – CC BY-ND 2.0 GovernmentZA on Flickr]