Saudi Arabia and West Africa: South–South Reciprocity and Development Cooperation

This article examines Saudi Arabia’s relations with West Africa through the lenses of development cooperation, security engagement and reciprocity. Existing literature has disproportionately framed Saudi Arabia’s role in the region primarily through the prism of religio-ideological influence, while affording insufficient attention to the Kingdom’s material contributions to development, infrastructure, humanitarian assistance and regional security. Drawing on selected case studies from West Africa and employing complex interdependence as its analytical framework, the article demonstrates that Saudi engagement in the region encompasses areas such as water provision, healthcare, transport, investment, diplomacy and multilateral security cooperation. It posits that these relations are no longer adequately understood as unidirectional flows of aid or influence. Instead, they are increasingly characterised by reciprocal political, diplomatic and strategic exchanges, particularly within the evolving landscape of Saudi Vision 2030 and shifting geopolitical alignments across the sub-region. The article provides a more comprehensive account of Saudi Arabia’s engagements with West African countries, which is becoming increasingly dialogic, politically consequential and pertinent to emerging multipolar dynamics.