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Saudi Oil Sustainability Program Launches Empowering Africa Initiative

The Empower Africa Initiative was announced during Climate Week in Riyadh (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Empower Africa Initiative was announced during Climate Week in Riyadh (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Oil Sustainability Program Launches Empowering Africa Initiative

The Empower Africa Initiative was announced during Climate Week in Riyadh (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Empower Africa Initiative was announced during Climate Week in Riyadh (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Oil Sustainability Program of the Saudi Ministry of Energy launched the "Empowering Africa" initiative in cooperation with the Ministries of Communications and Information Technology and the Ministries of Health.

The initiative aims to provide clean energy, connectivity, e-health, and e-learning solutions to improve lives and advance sustainable development in Africa.

Empowering Africa builds on the Clean Fuel Solutions for Cooking Program, a vital Middle East Green Initiative (MGI) component.

The initiative represents a milestone in advancing sustainable development and improving the lives of millions of people. It will empower communities across Africa.

Saudi Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz said on the sidelines of the MENA Climate Week 2023 that energy is a human right, indicating that the program enables energy access.

Additional information on the program will be revealed during COP28 in Dubai.

The initiative offers solutions to vulnerable populations globally, many facing dire consequences due to traditional and hazardous cooking practices, such as coal and wood usage.

Clean cooking solutions have the potential to save countless lives by mitigating the health risks associated with these cooking fuels.

Launched in 2021 as part of the MGI, Clean Fuel Solutions for Cooking provides cleaner cooking fuels, including Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), solar power, and biodigesters, to 750 million people worldwide.

The collaborative effort among Saudi institutions underscores the Kingdom's commitment to one of its most ambitious initiatives, which will forge a brighter future for African communities, and signifies the Kingdom's steadfast commitment to addressing worldwide challenges.

It encourages public involvement and advances international regulatory collaboration to pursue a brighter, more sustainable future for all.

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Report: Syria Plans to Print Currency in UAE and Germany, Ending Russian Role

Syrian pounds are pictured inside an exchange currency shop in Azaz, Syria February 3, 2020. (Reuters)
Syrian pounds are pictured inside an exchange currency shop in Azaz, Syria February 3, 2020. (Reuters)
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Report: Syria Plans to Print Currency in UAE and Germany, Ending Russian Role

Syrian pounds are pictured inside an exchange currency shop in Azaz, Syria February 3, 2020. (Reuters)
Syrian pounds are pictured inside an exchange currency shop in Azaz, Syria February 3, 2020. (Reuters)

Syria plans to print a newly-designed currency in the UAE and Germany instead of Russia, three sources told Reuters, reflecting rapidly improving ties with Gulf Arab and Western states as a move to loosen US sanctions offers Damascus new opportunities.

In another sign of deepening ties between Syria's new rulers and the UAE, Damascus on Thursday signed an $800 million initial deal with the UAE's DP World to develop Tartus port - the first such deal since President Donald Trump's surprise announcement on Tuesday that US sanctions on Syria would be lifted.

Syrian authorities began exploring the possibility of printing currency in Germany and the UAE earlier this year and the efforts gained steam after the European Union eased some of its sanctions on Damascus in February.

The redesign will remove former Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad's face from one of the Syrian pound's purple-hued denominations that remains in circulation.

Syria's new rulers are trying to move quickly to revamp an economy in tatters after 13 years of war. It has recently been further hampered by a banknote shortage.

One of Assad's key backers, Russia, printed Syria's currency during more than a decade of civil war after the EU imposed sanctions that led to the termination of a contract with a European firm.

The new rulers in Damascus have maintained ties with Moscow even after Assad fled to Russia last December, receiving several cash shipments in recent months along with fuel and wheat as Russia looks to retain its two military bases in Syria's coastal region.

That has caused discomfort among European states seeking to limit Russia's influence amid the war in Ukraine. In February, the EU suspended sanctions on Syria's financial sector, specifically allowing for currency printing.

Syrian authorities are in advanced talks on a currency-printing deal with UAE-based company Oumolat, which the country's central bank governor and finance minister visited during a trip to the UAE earlier this month, two Syrian financial sources said.

Oumolat did not respond to a request for comment.

In Germany, state-backed firm Bundesdruckerei and private company Giesecke+Devrient had shown interest, a Syrian source and a European official said, but it was not clear which might print the currency.

A Bundesdruckerei spokesperson said it was not in talks for a currency-printing deal with the Syrian state.

Giesecke+Devrient declined to comment.

The UAE foreign ministry, the German government and Syrian central bank governor Abdelkader Husriyeh did not respond to requests for comment.

Syrian pound notes are in short supply today, though officials and bankers give differing reasons for why this is.

Officials say ordinary citizens and also malign actors are hoarding pounds, while bankers say it is Syrian authorities who are keeping the flow to a trickle, partly in an effort to manage the exchange rate.

Banks regularly turn away depositors and businesses when they try to access their savings, piling pressure on an economy already being squeezed by new competition from cheap imports.

The Syrian pound was trading on Friday at around 10,000 per US dollar on the black market, strengthening from around 15,000 before Assad was toppled.

One US dollar was worth just 50 pounds in 2011, before the civil war.