October 26th, 2022
Via Bloomberg, a report on Saudi plans to invest in MENA countries:
Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund plans to invest $24 billion in Middle Eastern and North African countries as the oil-rich kingdom seeks to bolster regional economies.
The Public Investment Fund plans to set up companies to invest in Bahrain, Oman, Jordan, Iraq and Sudan, according to a statement. It will channel funds into several sectors including infrastructure, heath care, real estate and telecommunications. In August, the PIF started the Saudi Egyptian Investment Co. to invest in Egypt.
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is sitting on his first budget surplus since coming to power, allowing him to channel billions of dollars into assets globally and to plan ambitious construction projects.
The wealth fund, also chaired by the crown prince, is a key lever for the kingdom’s efforts to revive growth after a recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic and lower oil prices. Since 2015, the PIF has grown assets under management to $620 billion from about $150 billion.
The announcement came as Saudi Arabia holds the three-day Future Investment Initiative event in Riyadh.
Focusing primarily on The New Seven Sisters - the largely state owned petroleum companies from the emerging world that have become key players in the oil & gas industry as identified by Carola Hoyos, Chief Energy Correspondent for The Financial Times - but spanning other nascent opportunities around the globe that may hold potential in the years ahead, Wildcats & Black Sheep is a place for the adventurous to contemplate & evaluate the emerging markets of tomorrow.