A brand new WSJ report means that Saudi Arabia’s now eight-year-old Neom mission — a futuristic, carbon-neutral, 105-mile-long linear metropolis envisioned by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — has develop into a monetary sinkhole.
Plagued by delays and price overruns, the nation, which has already shelled out $50 billion, might reportedly face one other 55 years of development, with an astonishing projected price of $8.Eight trillion, in keeping with an inside audit introduced to Neom’s board final summer season. That’s greater than 25 occasions Saudi Arabia’s annual finances, notes the Journal.
The state of affairs is beginning to resemble Saudi Arabia’s personal Waterloo, with MBS misjudging the monumental challenges inherent in his technique, very similar to Napoleon did earlier than him. Among the cruel realities threatening to derail the mission are inadequate labor, insufficient roads, and a scarcity of electrical energy.
There are some winners, nonetheless. Consulting large McKinsey & Company is reportedly incomes greater than $130 million yearly for its providers, regardless of some controversy encompass its function, given the agency’s involvement in each the planning and validation of a number of the mission’s monetary projections, per the story. A McKinsey spokesman tells the WSJ the agency has “strict protocols to prevent conflicts of interest in our engagements.”
