Ethiopia Believes Saudi Crackdown Won’t Affect Al Moudi’s Local Investments

Ethiopian Prime Minister has spoken on the anti-corruption crackdown by Saudi Arabia. Hailemariam Desalegn said Addis Ababa was diplomatically following the issue especially as a national has been named.

Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi, an Ethiopian – born business mogul is part of the detained persons named late last week. But Premier Desalegn told local media in a briefing on Thursday that the government believes that Al Amoudi’s investments in the country will not be affected.

The 71-year-old is currently under detention along with 11 Saudi princes, four current ministers and a number of former ministers. Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television said the probe is headed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Al Amoudi is an Ethiopian – born business man who holds both Saudi and Ethiopian nationality. He is deemed to have a sizeable portion of his investment in the country of his birth.

#Ethiopia tycoon Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi is detained as part of #Saudi Crown Prince’s anti-corruption crackdown https://t.co/fuYoAbXn0K

— Evelyn Tremble (@DrumChronicles) November 7, 2017

According to Forbes, as at 2016, his net worth was approximately $10.9 billion. He is also listed as Ethiopia’s richest man and the second richest Saudi Arabian citizen in the world.

His investments are linked to oil and global commodities with his two main businesses being Corral Petroleum Holdings and MIDROC. MIDROC describes itself as ‘a global investment group, wholly owned by Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi.

‘It has substantial interests in petroleum, agribusiness, property, industry and industrial services, engineering and construction, tourism and trade and investment, largely in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and North Africa.’

Al Amoudi is said to have migrated from Ethiopia to Saudi Arabia when he was 19 and became a full citizen of the Kingdom in 1965. He built up a private fortune in construction and property before diversifying into the downstream energy sector with major refining and retail investments in both Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.