The daily business briefing: March 28, 2018

SoftBank announces plans for a massive Saudi solar power project, Zuckerberg reportedly decides to testify to Congress, and more

Japan's SoftBank
(Image credit: Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images)

1. SoftBank announces plans for massive Saudi solar power project

SoftBank Group Corp. announced Wednesday that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Saudi Arabia to build a $200 billion solar power project in the oil-rich country. If completed, the project will generate 200 gigawatts of electricity by 2030, making it by far "the world's biggest solar power generation" facility, said Masayoshi Son, the founder and chief executive of the Japanese company. The project is being planned in cooperation with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is a partner in the SoftBank Vision Fund. Son said the project would help reduce Saudi Arabia's dependence on oil to produce electricity, allowing it to sell more crude on the international market.

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.