The first Saudi-African Summit concluded its work in Riyadh on Friday, with the leaders of African countries confirming that the meeting represented an important historical turning point in African relations with Saudi Arabia, which will open broader horizons for cooperation in all fields.
The summit concluded with the adoption of the Riyadh Declaration, which includes a road map for Saudi-African cooperation, during which the leaders renewed their commitment to strengthening cooperation on the basis of strategic partnership, common interests, and geographical, historical and cultural ties.
Saudi Arabia, for its part, emphasized its historical ties with the African continent and its interest in developing relations with all its countries in the political, economic, investment, trade, and development, cultural and social fields.
The participants approved recommendations regarding the formation of four working groups. Those include: The working group for political, security and military affairs and combating extremism and terrorism, the committee for economic, development, commercial and investment affairs, another working group for cultural, educational and civilizational communication, and finally, the humanitarian and health affairs working group.
On the other hand, the Riyadh Declaration revealed that the leaders discussed developments in the situation in Palestine and expressed their deep concern about the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.
In this context, the participants stressed the need to stop military operations in the occupied Palestinian territories and to protect civilians in accordance with international law and international humanitarian law, pointing to the importance of the role of the international community to pressure the Israeli side to stop its attacks and forced displacement of Palestinians.
On a different note, the leaders at the summit touched on the need to intensify cooperation in the field of maritime security as one of the factors for stability and development of countries.
On the economic, developmental, commercial and investment levels, the Riyadh Declaration stated that the leaders highlighted the depth of the historical relations between Saudi Arabia and the countries of the African continent. They noted that the Kingdom has provided development support worth more than $45 billion in five decades in many vital sectors, benefitting 46 African countries.
The Saudi and African sides agreed to strengthen economic relations in the industrial and mining sectors, and to increase non-oil exports, welcoming the remarkable growth in trade exchange between them during the past five years.
They also expressed their aspiration to discuss areas of joint cooperation with regard to energy efficiency, electric and renewable energy, and work to localize energy sector products.
According to the Riyadh Declaration, the leaders of African countries welcomed Saudi Arabia’s launch of the Green Saudi Arabia and Green Middle East initiatives, and expressed their support for the Kingdom’s efforts in combating climate change, by implementing the circular carbon economy approach, which was launched by Saudi Arabia and approved by the leaders of the G20 countries.
The African states affirmed their support for Saudi Arabia’s candidacy to host the Expo 2030 exhibition in the city of Riyadh, and also welcomed the Kingdom’s candidacy to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup.
Saudi Arabia, for its part, expressed its support for policies, plans and directions that would develop the tourism sector in the African Union countries, in coordination with the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNTWO) and the African Union.
