A man in traditional attire delivers a speech at Saudi Night event.
Riyadh aims to drastically expand its domestic mining sector but acknowledges that even with the potential riches under its soil — $2.5 trillion by its own estimation — it can only access certain minerals at home. So the kingdom plans to invest abroad, fashioning itself as a hub for refining, processing, and manufacturing based on raw minerals mined abroad. And its priorities include addressing a shortage of infrastructure in African countries rich in critical minerals. Mudaifer pledged the kingdom would help African countries build up their capacity to refine minerals into more lucrative products, thereby capturing more of the economic value of their resources, but noted that not all countries had a robust enough local supply chain to support their ambitions. “Sometimes energy is not there, infrastructure is not there, talent, power, grids,” he said.