Africa-Saudi Arabia Partnership

An Invitation to the Africa-Saudi Arabia Partnership on Make in Africa

A Fair Partnership for Making More in Africa

We invite Saudi Arabia’s businesses, investors and institutions to join Make in Africa, the pan-African movement to build more of what Africa uses and sells, in Africa. The Africa-Saudi Arabia Partnership sets out what a stronger relationship looks like: trade, investment and technology on fair terms. The Make in Africa Global Summit meets in Sandton, Johannesburg, in January 2027, in partnership with GSEF and WSSH Australia.

Why This Partnership Matters

Why a Fair Partnership Matters

Africa has the resources, a young population and, through the AfCFTA, a single continental market. Yet it still ships out raw materials and buys finished goods back, so the value, the jobs and the technology are made elsewhere. For the Africa-Saudi Arabia Partnership, the question is how Saudi Arabia can help change that, with energy, petrochemicals, ports and logistics, and food security. A fair partnership puts value back into Africa and gives Saudi firms a stable, growing market in return. Make in Africa facilitates, introduces, guides and advocates. It works with governments, investors and companies who are ready to commit.

Mutual Benefits
What Saudi Partners Gain from Make in Africa

Investment That Builds Capacity

Africa needs patient capital that builds factories, not only mines and ports. Saudi Arabia can put money where value is added: fertilisers and petrochemicals, minerals processing, food processing, ports and logistics. About 230 special economic zones operate in 43 African countries. The task is to connect them to finance, technology and buyers. Investors who commit to processing in Africa gain access to a growing continental market under the AfCFTA.

Access to a Continental Market

The AfCFTA is building a single market across African Union member states. A business that sets up in one country can supply many. For Saudi Arabia, that means one entry point to many African markets, and a base from which Saudi firms can serve them. Make in Africa helps partners read that market: where demand is growing, which standards apply and how regional bodies such as ECOWAS, SADC, EAC and COMESA shape the rules.

Shared Technology and Skills

Saudi Arabia has real strength in energy, petrochemicals, ports and logistics, and food security. Joint ventures with African firms can turn that strength into African production. The best collaboration shares know-how, not only finished equipment: training, licences, repair capacity and joint research with African universities. Skills built in Africa stay in Africa and grow over time.

What Africa Asks of Saudi Arabia

Fair, Long-Term Finance

Africa pays too much to borrow. Risk is priced high, credit ratings are slow to reflect reality, and short loans do not suit factories that take years to build. We ask Saudi Arabia for long-term finance at fair prices, guarantees that lower the cost of capital, and debt restructuring or swaps that free public money for productive investment. Sovereign and development funds can provide long-term capital for African processing plants, cold chains and ports, rather than short-term trading deals.

Market Access for Processed Goods

Many tariff systems charge little on raw materials and far more on processed goods. This is called tariff escalation, and it keeps processing offshore. Saudi Arabia buys energy, food and materials from many suppliers. We ask it to commit to long-term purchases of food and processed goods from African producers. Standards matter as well. They should be applied honestly, with mutual recognition where possible and technical support so African producers can comply. Long-term purchase agreements tied to local processing give factories the certainty they need to borrow and hire.

Technology, Skills and Clean Flows

We ask Saudi Arabia to share technology and licences on workable terms, and to invest in skills, vocational training and research in Africa. Training should lead to jobs in African factories, not only to scholarships abroad. Illicit financial outflows drain Africa of money that should fund schools, roads and industry. Transfer pricing abuse and hidden ownership make it easier. We ask for shared information, open company ownership and cooperation to bring those outflows to an end. Make in Africa will keep score and publish who delivers.

What Saudi Arabia Can Bring to Make in Africa

Capital and Industrial Experience

Saudi Arabia brings large pools of long-term capital, deep experience in energy and petrochemicals, and a strong interest in food security that African agriculture can serve. That experience is most useful in Africa when it is paired with local ownership, local suppliers and local jobs. We invite Saudi firms and institutions to join working groups, share what has worked, and name where they can commit. Joint ventures that give African partners a real role in management are the ones that last.

Trade That Adds Value

Saudi buyers can help build African industry by choosing processed goods over raw ones and by signing long-term supply agreements with African producers. Sectors with the strongest case include fertilisers and petrochemicals, minerals processing, food processing, ports and logistics. Make in Africa introduces buyers to producers and to the regional bodies that set trade rules. Questions on certificates of origin go to the customs authority or chamber that issues them.

People, Research and Exchange

Partnership is also between people. Engineers, researchers, students and entrepreneurs from Saudi Arabia and Africa learn faster when they work side by side. We encourage exchanges, joint laboratories, apprenticeships and business visits that lead to real projects. Exchange should run both ways, with African expertise valued as much as it is shared. The Summit in January 2027 in Sandton, Johannesburg, is a place to meet the people who will make this happen.

A Fair Partnership: What It Looks Like in Practice

Honest Advice, Shared Experience

A fair partnership starts with honest advice. Saudi Arabia can share what it has learned about industrial planning, zones, logistics and quality control, including where things went wrong. African governments choose their own path. The best partners offer options and let them decide. We welcome partner comment on them.

Long-Term Commitments

Short projects rarely build industries. We look for commitments that run for years: purchase agreements, patient finance and training that outlast a political cycle. Fair terms mean shared value. Local content, local jobs, fair prices and a fair share of profit stay in the country where the work is done. Make in Africa will introduce partners to African governments, investors and companies who are ready to commit. Partners who deliver will be named.

A Voice for Fair Terms

Saudi Arabia can use its voice in international institutions to support fair rules on debt, credit ratings, tariffs and standards. Today’s system still prices risk, credit, standards and tariffs in ways that keep processing offshore. We ask every major economy that trades with Africa to help repair the terms of trade. We invite Saudi Arabia to back that change in word and in practice.

Join Us in Making More in Africa

The Make in Africa Global Summit is more than an event. It is a place to agree fair terms, sign long-term commitments and build industry in Africa. The Africa-Saudi Arabia Partnership is a vital part of that work, and your involvement will help make more of what Africa uses and sells, in Africa.

We look forward to welcoming you at the Make in Africa Global Summit in January 2027 and to building what comes next together.

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About

The Make In Africa Global Summit (MIAGS) is a global platform connecting leaders, businesses, investors, institutions and policymakers shaping the next era of economic growth across the Global South and Africa.

MIAGS advances South–South cooperation, trade, investment, industrialization, technology, infrastructure and economic resilience, creating platforms for dialogue, strategic partnerships and cross-border opportunities.

Our mission is to strengthen the Global South and Africa’s role in the global economy by connecting capital with opportunity, innovation with markets and economic priorities with action—while fostering a more connected, productive and influential economic future.

Africa-Saudi Arabia Partnership

An Invitation to the Africa-Saudi Arabia Partnership on Make in Africa

Why This Partnership Matters