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Saudi Arabia is looking to boost exports to South Africa through a $25 million credit deal with Standard Bank Group.
The Saudi Export-Import Bank, a development bank under the National Development Fund, signed the deal with the South African lender to bolster trade links between the two countries, Bloomberg reported on Monday, quoting Naif Al-Shammari, Saudi Exim’s deputy chief executive officer.
Under the agreement, Saudi Exim will extend funding support to Saudi businesses that are looking to pursue interests in South Africa.
Saudi Arabia and South Africa are also expected to go over their investment and trade opportunities “in the coming weeks” and agree on an action plan.
Africa is one of the major destinations for the kingdom’s non-oil exports. Between 2019 and 2023, Saudi Arabia exported more than SAR 128 billion worth of non-oil goods to the African continent, according to the Saudi Press Agency in an earlier report.
The value of South Africa’s imports from the Gulf state stood at $3.1 billion in 2023.
(Writing by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Seban Scaria)
