A brand new WSJ report means that Saudi Arabia’s now eight-year-old Neom undertaking — a futuristic, carbon-neutral, 105-mile-long linear metropolis envisioned by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — has turn into a monetary sinkhole.
Tormented by delays and price overruns, the nation, which has already shelled out $50 billion, might reportedly face one other 55 years of building, with an astonishing projected value of $8.8 trillion, in keeping with an inner audit introduced to Neom’s board final summer time. That’s greater than 25 occasions Saudi Arabia’s annual finances, notes the Journal.
The scenario is beginning to resemble Saudi Arabia’s personal Waterloo, with MBS misjudging the monumental challenges inherent in his technique, very like Napoleon did earlier than him. Among the many harsh realities threatening to derail the undertaking are inadequate labor, insufficient roads, and an absence of electrical energy.
There are some winners, nevertheless. Consulting big McKinsey & Firm is reportedly incomes greater than $130 million yearly for its providers, regardless of some controversy encompass its position, given the agency’s involvement in each the planning and validation of among the undertaking’s monetary projections, per the story. A McKinsey spokesman tells the WSJ the agency has “strict protocols to stop conflicts of curiosity in our engagements.”