The Government of South Korea has pledged a total of $24 billion in development and trade assistance for the benefit of African nations including Nigeria.
The 10 billion dollars was earmarked for development projects across Africa while the 14 billion dollars is to boost the activities of Korean companies’ operations in Africa thereby facilitating trade and investment in the respective host countries in Africa.
This was captured in a Joint Declaration from the 2024 Korea-Africa Summit held in Seoul, Korea, and published on the Korean government website on Wednesday, June 5, 2024.
About 48 African countries were represented at the summit including Nigeria’s Foreign Minister, Yusuf Tuggar, to boost economic ties with Korea.
The joint statement involved the Heads of State and Government and Heads of Delegation of African countries; the President of the Republic of Korea; the representatives of the African Union and its institutions and the representative of the African Development Bank (AfDB).
Korea’s Pledge to Africa
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said that his country’s role in Africa will set an example for a stable supply chain through mutually beneficial cooperation and contribute to the sustainable development of mineral resources around the world
“To facilitate cooperation discussed at this Summit, Korea will continue to expand Official Development Assistance (ODA) up to 10 billion US dollars by 2030 as a catalyst for projects for cooperation with Africa, including through the expansion of EDCF Framework Arrangement(F/A) and grants.
“ Moreover, approximately 14 billion US dollars in export financing will be provided to Korean companies by 2030 to encourage their activities in Africa, thus stimulating trade and investment with Africa,” Yeol said in the joint statement.
The Korean side expressed its willingness to continue to support African countries in their bid to become permanent members of the UN Security Council.
Korea-Africa Critical Minerals Dialogue
In view of Korea’s pledge, the stakeholders agreed to launch the Korea-Africa Critical Minerals Dialogue during this summit.
The dialogue will serve as an important institutional foundation for enhancing cooperation between Korea and Africa in their effort to ensure the stable supply of critical minerals and promote technology collaboration related to critical minerals on mutually agreed terms.
“We further recognize the importance of identifying opportunities for Korean companies to invest in Africa and add value to the development of critical mineral resources so that the collaboration may contribute to creating job opportunities and revitalizing local economies,” the joint statement partly reads.
The African representatives showed solidarity for Korea while reaffirming that building sustainable peace and stability is essential for the realization of the African Union’s vision for an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa.
What you should know
- Nigeria is positioned to benefit from the financial commitments coming out from the Africa-Korea Summit.
- According to data from the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Korea, South was Nigeria’s seventh top import trading partner in the last quarter of the 2023 financial year, to the tune of N304,619,077,676.23.
- Mackerel (Scomber scombrus, Scomber australasicus) was among the products shipped into the country from Korea.
- From the Nigerian side, unwrought aluminum and alloys were exported to Korea valued at N3,400,420,000 for Q4, 2023.
- Furthermore, as disclosed on the website of the Embassy of Korea to Nigeria, Korean businesses are expanding their presence in Nigeria, mainly in resource development and construction.
“In construction, the total value of orders received by Korean companies reached US$ 15 billion in 2020, which means that Nigeria is by far the biggest construction market to Korea among Sub-Sahara African countries,” the statement partly reads.
On April 19 2024, President Bola Tinubu acknowledged that several South Korean companies and products are firmly entrenched in the Nigerian market, emphasizing increased cooperation between both countries.
