Nigeria and Saudi Arabia have signed a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at enhancing energy cooperation between the two nations and promoting capital investment.

In a statement on Thursday, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, signed on behalf of the Federal Government, while the Energy Minister of Saudi Arabia, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, signed for his country.

“The primary goal of the MoU is to foster collaboration, information exchange, and technology transfer, creating an environment conducive to a mutually beneficial partnership.

“A major expected benefit from this significant agreement is the facilitation of technological exchange. With Saudi Arabia’s advanced oil and gas exploration and production technologies, Nigeria stands to gain significantly from this knowledge transfer.

“The sharing of technical expertise is expected to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of Nigeria’s energy operations, ultimately leading to increased production levels and global competitiveness,” stated the minister’s media aide, Nneamaka Okafor, in the statement.

On his part, Saudi investment minister Khalid Al-Falih said the kingdom’s over $700bn wealth fund — the public investment fund— would make some “game-changing” investments in Africa.

The development comes hours after President Bola Tinubu arrived in Riyadh, the Saudi Arabian capital city, to attend the Saudi-Africa summit.

Tinubu arrived in the Middle Eastern country on Thursday as part of efforts to attract foreign direct investment and mobilise capital to build needed infrastructure, Ajuri Ngelale, presidential spokesperson, said.

Nigeria, Saudi Arabia sign deal on energy cooporation