Saudi’s $1.2bn investment to create more jobs for Nigerians – FG

The Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, on Sunday, said more local jobs are expected in the coming year as a result of Saudi Arabia’s drive to ramp up investment in key sectors of the economy.

Edun said this follows Saudi Arabia’s SALIC International Investment Company’s acquisition of a 35.43 per cent stake in Olam Agri Holdings for $1.24bn

The Coordinating Minister of the Economy affirmed this after meeting President Bola Tinubu at his Ikoyi home in Lagos.

The deal, which closed on December 23, 2024, values Olam Agri Holdings at $3.5bn.

Olam Group will retain a majority stake of 64.57 per cent in the agricultural unit in a deal first announced in March 2022.

Edun, accompanied by his counterpart in the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, had led a delegation to Saudi Arabia to follow up on various investment pledges made to Nigeria by Saudi businesses in the past few visits.

He said this visit resulted in a $1.2bn investment by the Saudi Agricultural Livestock Investment Company in Olam.

This investment, he argued, is expected to increase FOREX inflow, and jobs and boost the economy.

Edun explained, “I’d say what we have brought back is investment. What we have brought back is foreign exchange. We have brought jobs for Nigerians.

“If you look at the demographics of Saudi Arabia, to the extent that they are investing abroad, they are not going to be exporting their people. They’re not like some of the other big, populous countries of Asia.

“So clearly, where they invest is in jobs for Nigerians. So that’s the simplest way I would put it. Of course, the Olam transaction was a long time in the works. You all know that the Saudi Agricultural Livestock Investment Company has, just around December 23, increased its investment in Olam by a $1.2bn additional investment.

“So it is that type of transaction that Mr president has taken the steps of stabilising the Nigerian macroeconomic environment to encourage such and to attract such and of course, that is an example of the success of the strategy followed by Mr President.”

He said the delegation was in the Middle East to “follow up on the economic diplomacy, the incisive, robust and exhaustive economic diplomacy that Mr President has carried out around the world.”

For his part, the Budget Minister referred to the cordial relationship between the Saudi Crown Prince, Muhammadu Bin Salman and Tinubu as a key factor in the multilateral progress.

He said, “I don’t know how you evaluate achievements because once your President is respected in a country, that is an achievement. Some of you were there when Mr. President first visited Saudi Arabia. At the Business Council meeting, the Minister of Investment of Saudi Arabia compared our President with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.

“I think that is profound because they don’t do those things just for the optics; they are very serious about those equivalents.

“In this visit where we met the Minister of Finance, Minister of Economy and Planning, Minister of Energy, as well as other deputy and vice ministers, you can see clearly that the Saudis are seeing in President Tinubu is somebody who is changing his society as they did theirs. So they appreciate our President, who is facing a greater challenge, yet he took on those reforms. For me, that is the number one achievement for our country.”

Regarding the 2025 budget, Bagudu said Nigerians should expect a better economy with lower inflation, more employment opportunities, and more business support.

“We have turned the bend; we have made the tough choices; we have seen the worst we could see, which is not unexpected.

“That is why social protection was improved. So what we are expecting to see in 2025 is a better economy, lower inflation, more employment opportunities, more support for businesses, more infrastructure development, more funding of security and better security, and all those priority areas, including human capital development, education and health.

“We’re sure to see more in that direction, and the quality of life will get better,” he explained.