The Republic of Korea has committed $14 billion in export financing to support South Korean companies investing in Africa, while increasing its official development assistance to $10 billion by 2030.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol announced the plans on July 2 in Seoul at the opening of the first Korea–Africa Summit, which was attended by 25 African heads of state and government, as well as Akinwumi Adesina, the president of the African Development Bank Group.
As many as 48 African countries were represented at the summit by either a president, king, prime minister, vice president, or minister to discuss “The Future We Make Together: Shared Growth, Sustainability, and Solidarity.”
Mr. Yoon pledged that South Korea would extend its Trade and Investment Promotion Frameworks and its Investment Protection Agreements to African countries.
African leaders praised Seoul for its open and mutual approach to strengthening cooperation with the continent. They highlighted investment opportunities in their own countries and across the continent.
In a speech, Mr. Yoon urged African countries to take firmer steps in an international pressure campaign against North Korea.
North Korea recently accelerated its tests of nuclear-capable weapons systems and flew hundreds of balloons to drop tons of trash and manure on South Korea as relations between the nations have worsened.
Trade with African nations currently accounts for less than 2 percent of South Korea’s total imports and exports.
Following the July 2 meeting, South Korea and the African nations announced that they would begin high-level talks aimed at improving cooperation over minerals.
The African continent is a major source of nickel, cobalt, graphite, and lithium, which are crucial for technology industries such as semiconductors, batteries, and electric vehicles—major export items for South Korea.
South Korean officials say expanding ties in minerals and other natural resources would help improve the country’s supply chain resilience in key technology industries.
There are concerns in South Korea that it may face growing challenges in securing a stable supply of core minerals since it has secured a much smaller number of mines than the United States, China, and Japan.
Mauritania President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, the current chairperson of the African Union—a new G20 member—expressed hope for South Korean investment in “important sectors such as commerce, new technologies, energy, food, security, human capital, and infrastructure” and expressed confidence in a “durable partnership” ahead.
The countries also vowed stronger collaboration in the building of sustainable infrastructure in Africa, including data-driven smart cities and intelligent transportation systems.
The continent has some of the world’s least-developed infrastructure.
South Korea’s outreach to Africa comes at a time when North Korea is becoming more active in trying to break out of its diplomatic isolation and build cooperation with countries confronting the United States, as its leader Kim Jong Un embraces the idea of a “new Cold War.”
In a joint statement, South Korea and the African nations reaffirmed their commitment to the full implementation of U.N. Security Council resolutions against North Korea and highlighted the “importance of the efforts of the international community to achieve a complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
North Korea has longstanding relations with several African nations, including Uganda, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique, although some governments in the region have scaled back ties with Pyongyang amid tightened U.N. sanctions over its nuclear weapons and missile programs.
