Saudi Fund for Development Provides Over $580 Million in Development Loans to African States

The signing ceremonies took place at the Saudi-Arab-African Economic Conference held in Riyadh. SPA
The signing ceremonies took place at the Saudi-Arab-African Economic Conference held in Riyadh. SPA
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Saudi Fund for Development Provides Over $580 Million in Development Loans to African States

The signing ceremonies took place at the Saudi-Arab-African Economic Conference held in Riyadh. SPA
The signing ceremonies took place at the Saudi-Arab-African Economic Conference held in Riyadh. SPA

The Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) Chief Executive Officer Sultan Al-Marshad signed on Thursday 14 new development loan agreements with 12 African ministers, worth over $580 million to fund projects in healthcare, water, education, and transportation sectors.

The 12 countries are Angola, Burkina Faso, Benin, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Guinea, Malawi, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania. The signing ceremony took place at the Saudi-Arab-African Economic Conference held in Riyadh.

In conjunction with the loan agreements signing, the SFD CEO signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the African Finance Corporation's CEO, Samaila Zubairu. This MoU will enable SFD to collaborate with AFC to identify, develop, and co-finance infrastructure and industrial projects across the continent.

The 14 development loan agreements signed Thursday include the Construction and Equipping of a Mother and Child Referral Hospital in Guinea for $75 million, a Riyadh Referral hospital in Sierra Leone for $50 million, Boarding Secondary Schools for Girls in Several Regions of Niger for $28 million, and the Construction of Higher College For Teacher Preparation And The Scientific Secondary School Project in Benin for $40 million.

In addition, the agreements include the Rehabilitation of the King Khalid University Hospital in Bujumbura, Burundi for $50 million, the Manga Regional Hospital (Phase 2) in Burkina Faso for $17 million, and Watersheds in the Islands of Santiago, Saint Antao, and Boavista, Cabo Verde for $17 million.

The SFD will fund the Catumbela Industrial Development Project (Phase 1) in Angola for $100 million, the Expansion of the Transmission and Distribution Water System in the East of Kigali, Rwanda for $20 million, and the Construction and Rehabilitation of the Mangochi-Makanjira Road in Malawi for $20 million.

Other agreements include the Construction and Equipping of Five Hospitals in different regions of Mozambique for $50 million, the Construction of the Muera Dam in Mozambique for $50 million, the Rehabilitation and Upgrade of Two parts of National Road No. 1 in Mozambique for $50 million and lastly the Benaco to Kyaka Transmission Line Project in Tanzania for $13 million.

These agreements and the MoU will have a positive impact on the lives of millions of people in different regions across Africa by improving access to healthcare, education, water, transportation, and economic opportunities, stimulating economic growth, and creating jobs.



Record-Breaking Bitcoin Surges Towards $90,000 on Trump Boost

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at the Bitcoin 2024 Conference, July 27, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP)
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at the Bitcoin 2024 Conference, July 27, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP)
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Record-Breaking Bitcoin Surges Towards $90,000 on Trump Boost

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at the Bitcoin 2024 Conference, July 27, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP)
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at the Bitcoin 2024 Conference, July 27, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP)

Bitcoin rallied to the verge of $90,000 on Tuesday, riding a wave of euphoria since the election of Donald Trump as US president on expectations his administration will be crypto friendly.

The world's biggest cryptocurrency has become one of the most eye-catching movers in the week since the election and touched $89,982 - a gain of around 30% since Nov. 5. It was last down 1.4% at $86,730.

Bitcoin is surging along with Elon Musk's automaker Tesla, which is up nearly 40% since voting results rolled in, as investors figure Trump's friends and interests will do well while he is in office.

"The crypto enthusiasts think they have a like-minded incoming president," said Alvin Tan, head of Asia FX strategy at RBC Capital Markets.

"The thing about bitcoin at the end of the day is that there is no valuation anchor to it, it's hard to get a grip on fair value. So when sentiment is very positive, it does get carried away a lot more than other asset classes."

Trump embraced digital assets during his campaign, promising to make the United States the "crypto capital of the planet" and to accumulate a national stockpile of bitcoin.

It is not clear how or when that could happen, but the possibility drove a speculative surge in crypto mining and trading stocks.

"I think it increases the chances that other nation states buy bitcoin in a bid to front run the US," said Matthew Dibb, chief investment officer at cryptocurrency asset manager Astronaut Capital.

"Additionally, I think it would be a crazy catalyst for the US listed bitcoin miners ... given possibilities of such entities getting nationalized."

Crypto miner Riot Platforms jumped nearly 17% on Wall Street on Monday. Fellow miners MARA Holdings and CleanSpark leapt nearly 30%.

Software company and investor in bitcoin MicroStrategy announced it had spent about $2 billion buying bitcoin between Oct. 31 and Nov. 10. Shares rose 26% on Monday.

"Obviously (it's) a clear Trump trade as he is so supportive of the industry, and this can only mean more demand both for crypto stocks as well as the currencies themselves," Nick Twidale, chief market analyst at ATFX Global in Sydney, said of the bitcoin rally.

"The fact that bitcoin was trading near all-time highs when the election result came through meant that it had clean sky above."

The euphoria extended across the crypto landscape with smaller tokens such as ether and dogecoin surging, although they dipped on Tuesday morning in Europe.

Crypto investors see an end to increased scrutiny under US Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler whom Trump has said he will replace. Trump also unveiled a new crypto business, World Liberty Financial, in September.

"What we're seeing isn't just a price milestone; it's a signal that the market is warming to the idea of bitcoin as a more stable, even politically favored, asset," said Justin D'Anethan, head of Asia-Pacific business development at digital assets market maker Keyrock.