…As Nigeria woos foreign investors with infrastructure***
Cash settlements obtained from people detained in Saudi Arabia’s crackdown on corruption will help to finance a 50 billion riyal (13.3 billion dollars) package for citizens to cope with the rising cost of living, Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan said on Wednesday.
The package was announced by King Salman early this month, said Jadaan, speaking to Al Arabiya television at the World Economic forum in Davos.
Jadaan said the package would also be financed by money from the state budget.
The Saudi government anti-corruption campaign began Nov. 15, 2017.
The kingdom’s attorney-general, Sheikh Saud al-Mojeb, said in a statement that Saudi authorities believed that at least 100 billion dollars “had been misused though systematic corruption and embezzlement over several decades.”
The crackdown has swept up more than 200 people, including senior government officials, prominent businessmen and members of the ruling family.
The investigation is being led by a newly established anti-corruption agency headed by the kingdom’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, who is pushing to overhaul Saudi Arabia’s oil-dependent economy as well as its conservative society.
The detainees, who face accusations that range from procurement fraud to money laundering and bribery, were given the option by Saudi authorities of relinquishing part of their wealth in exchange for freedom rather than going to court.
The government already freed in the past month several of those arrested after they agreed to surrender a part of their assets.
That included Prince Miteb Abdullah, the most politically influential royal detained in the campaign who was once seen as a leading contender to the throne, after he agreed to pay over $1 billion to settle corruption allegations against him.
The anti-graft campaign has largely been welcomed in Saudi Arabia, where many people are angry at what they see as rampant corruption among the wealthy.
It has helped burnish Prince Mohammed’s popular image as a champion of fairness, though some analysts and observers outside the kingdom see the crackdown as part of a centralisation of power in the hands of the young crown prince.
He became next in line to the throne this summer.
In the meantime, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in Davos, Switzerland, said Nigeria was ready to partner international investors and friendly nations to develop Nigeria’s manufacturing sector and promised to boost infrastructure to provide ambience for investment.
Osinbajo said this in a statement by his Special Senior Assistant on Media, Laolu Akande, in Abuja.
Osinbajo stated this while meeting with a delegation of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), led by Mr Hiroyuki Ishige, the organisation’s Chairman and CEO on the sideline of the World Economic Forum (WEF).
According to Osinbajo, the Buhari administration working with the Private Sector is determined to boost the Nigerian manufacturing sector and will be engaging with international partners and friendly nations to realise the goal.
“Nigeria and Japan should be doing more, far more based on the existing long relationship and trade between both countries,” said the vice president.
According to him, the collaboration will be mutually beneficial to both countries.
The vice president said manufacturing was one sector that Nigeria and Japan could work together and deepen their economic relations.
“Nigeria, the largest economy in Africa will be getting involved in the manufacturing global chain and it would be private sector led, government would be backing it up,” Osinbajo explained.
He cited the example of the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) being set up in the country as a major boost to the sector, adding that the zones will have all needed infrastructure.
“We will provide world-class infrastructure and this is a good opportunity for investors around the world to tap into, an opportunity to do some game-changing projects, to do something big,” he added.
Earlier, JETRO’S Chairman, noted the rise of Japanese firms in Africa and highlighted the country’s readiness to promote business in Nigeria and support Nigeria’s export promotion.
Also the vice president participated in the WEF’s solo video message recording on the conference’s theme: “Shared Future in a Fractured World”.
In the programme, heads of government and business leaders answered questions around economic development sent in from the global public.
Other leaders who participated in the video included French President, Mr Emmanuel Macron, and the Prime Minister of Norway, Mrs Erna Solberg.
