Saudi Arabia's policy towards Africa

This thesis examines the foreign policy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the African countries that gained their independence after the Second World War. In the study, the brief history of Saudi Arabia since its establishment, the general foreign policy of the country, and its political, military, economic and religious relations with African countries are discussed in detail. Saudi Arabia has had to transform its long-standing passive foreign policy from the African continent into a more active policy with the changes in power after the Arab Spring in Tunisia in 2010 and the increase in alternative energy resources to oil, which corresponds to seventy per cent of the country's income. Relations with Africa, which rose with King Faisal in the 1960s, reached its peak under the leadership of Mohammed bin Salman, who was crowned Crown Prince in 2017. Relations with the African continent have reached a high level with many important initiatives, including the establishment of the Ministry of Africa by Salman, hosting the First Africa-Saudi Arabia Summit and making large investments in renewable energy. It can be said that the ambitious policies of Mohammed bin Salman in the general foreign policy of Arabia are also seen in the foreign policy with the African continent. As a result, it can be said that in Saudi Arabia's African policy, although there are military initiatives, there are no serious initiatives that will change the fate of the region, and Arabia's economic initiatives aiming to diversify the country's income, such as the use of agricultural land, renewable energy facilities, and religious initiatives that encourage the Wahhabi understanding and aim to lead the Islamic world with elements such as foundations, institutions, universities and pilgrimage.