Saudi Arabia would continue playing an essential role in the advancement of the African continent, said Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman on Tuesday, declaring a $1 billion investment in the area this year using the Saudi Development Fund.

He also stated that the Kingdom will assist regional and international initiatives, in collaboration with the African Union, to establish the groundwork for the continent's security, stability, and resolving conflict.

The statements were given by the Crown Prince during his video-conference statement at the Africa Summit on Post-COVID-19 Economic Recovery in Paris.

In his presentation to the attendees, the Crown Prince stated that the G20 nations under the Saudi presidency in 2020 understood the necessity to collaborate to help low-income nations in Africa and the rest of the globe to fight the epidemic.

He also stated that during the exceptional summit in March 2020, the group acknowledged that strengthening the health system in Africa is a must for the integration of the global health system, and the leaders promised to increase capacity-building and provide specialized technical support to the most vulnerable populations, in addition to their willingness to mobilize the development and humanitarian funding required for these countries.

According to the Crown Prince, as part of the relief efforts, the G20 gave emergency assistance to low-income nations, including the initiation of the program to withdraw debt-service payments.

He emphasized that the historic G20 effort offered critical cash to 73 of the world's poorest countries, namely 38 African countries that got more than $5 billion.

The Crown Prince stressed that the Kingdom's Public Investment Fund is implementing a variety of projects and activities worth SR15 billion (almost $4 billion) in the energy, mining, telecommunications, food, and other industries.

He stated that the Public Investment Fund plans to continue its efforts to find investment possibilities in the African continent, either directly or indirectly, in other nations and industries.

The Crown Prince further stated that the Saudi Fund for Development has been functioning efficiently in Africa over four decades, providing loans and grants totaling more than SR50 billion (roughly $13.5 billion) to more than 45 African nations.

The Crown Prince drew the attention of the attendees by stating that changing climate is a worldwide concern since it affects the life quality and livelihoods of many citizens, particularly in low-income nations.

As a result, the G20 under the Saudi presidency placed a high value on environmental protection, introducing a series of initiatives aimed at mitigating the consequences of climate change and the most important sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere, such as the notions of a circular carbon economy and providing reasonable access to cleaner and more sustainable energy, he noted.

The Crown Prince mentioned the newly announced “Green Middle East Initiative,” which seeks to grow more than 50 billion trees and eliminate more than 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, noting that the program includes several African nations.

Regarding the fight against terror, he stated that Saudi Arabia supports international action to battle terrorist groups and extremism in all affected nations and has donated 100 million euros (almost SR500 million) for efforts to combat terrorism and enhance these nations' security capacities.