The government of Saudi Arabia has pledged to invest in the revamp of Nigeria’s refineries.

Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman made the pledge at a bilateral meeting with President Bola Tinubu on the margins of the Saudi-Africa Summit in Riyadh.

This was disclosed on Friday in a statement by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris.

Although Nigerian government has refineries in Port Harcourt, Kaduna and Warri with combined capacity of 445,000 barrels, they have remained moribund due to corruption and years of neglect.

With the coming on stream of the 650,000 barrels Dangote refinery and existing modular refineries, Saudi’s investment in Nigeria’s refineries will help to boost the country’s refining capacity.

The Crown Prince informed that the refinery investments in Nigeria would be led by Saudi Aramco, the  state-owned oil company, with the revamp to be completed within a two- to three-year timeframe.

According to the statement, Saudi government also pledged to provide financial support to sustain Nigeria’s government’s foreign exchange reforms.

Nigeria’s currency, Naira, has experienced the worst depreciation in recent years since May that the exchange rate was floated by Tinubu’s administration.

“To support the Central Bank’s ongoing reforms of Nigeria’s foreign exchange regime, the Saudi Government will make available a substantial deposit of foreign exchange to boost Nigeria’s forex liquidity.

“Prince bin Salman commended the economic reforms being implemented by President Tinubu, and expressed the commitment of the Saudi Government to supporting these reforms, and enabling Nigeria to reap the full benefits.

According to him, Saudi Arabia is very eager to see Nigeria thrive under President Bola Tinubu, and realize its full potential as the economic giant of Africa,” the statement said.

Salman also highlighted agriculture and renewable energy as areas of investment interest for Saudi Arabia, in Nigeria, to help the country attain food and energy security, respectively.

“The Crown Prince also expressed appreciation to Nigeria for its active participation in, and support for OPEC+.

“President Tinubu thanked the Saudi leader for the proposed investments, and pledged that Nigeria would ensure judicious management and oversight. The two leaders vowed to work together over the next six months to develop a comprehensive road-map and blueprint to deliver on the agreed investments and outcomes.

“Also, President Tinubu and Crown Prince bin Salman spoke on the need to strengthen security cooperation to mitigate terrorism, illegal migration and other crises, not just in Nigeria, but across West Africa and the Sahel region.

“The two leaders further discussed existing economic and socio-cultural cooperation between Nigeria and Saudi Arabia, and agreed to open new vistas in bilateral relations.

“The bilateral meeting was attended by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, Nigerian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Ambassador Yahaya Lawal and the state Chief of Protocol, Ambassador Adekunle Adeleke,” the statement added.