Africa has waited for 76 years, in vain, for an Africa-Republic of Korea (ROK) Foreign Policy and a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). This agony might end on June 4 -5, 2024, when an expanded Korea-Africa Summit will take place in Ilsan and Seoul in the ROK.
African leaders from 54 African countries will congregate there to deliberate on an agenda skewed towards the ROK’s interests.
The guiding catchy slogan for the Summit is: “The Future We Make Together: Shared Growth, Sustainability, and Solidarity.” This theme is derived from a common African-Korean adage that says "If you want to go quickly go alone, if you want to go far go together"
But Koreans have been going alone under the guide of “pali-pali”, a word meaning “hurry, hurry” since the establishment of the First Republic in 1948. So, why the change course to “Katchi Kapshida (Let’s go together)?”.
The answer to this question lies naked on the 2024 Korea-Africa Summit portal. CHO Tae-yul, Chairperson of the 2024 Korea-Africa Summit Preparatory Commission and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the ROK, clearly articulates ROK’s 3 interests in Africa.
The first one is a desire for Africa’s support in President YOON Suk-yeol’s goal of transiting from a middle power status to a global pivotal state (GPS). He says, “Africa is a key partner for Korea in realizing its foreign policy aspiration of becoming a 'Global Pivotal State”
The benefits of a GPS status are obvious. The influence gained translates to humongous business for the ROK, as witnessed when Europe and the USA ran out of 155mm artillery shells required by Ukraine.
The second ROK’s interest in Africa, which is the palpable reason for convening this Summit, is the scramble for Africa’s critical minerals. CHO states that Africa “possesses abundant reserves of critical minerals essential for the Fourth Industrial Revolution” Let’s put this into context.
On March 4, 2024, Ambassador Bill Paterson, a senior fellow of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and a director of the Australia-Korea Business Council pointed out that “Korea is the world’s second-largest manufacturer of semiconductors and holds about 26 per cent of the global EV battery market, but it is 95 per cent dependent on imports for its processed critical minerals supply and over 80 per cent of this supply comes from China.”
President YOON Suk-yul has lately been antagonizing China through his careless utterances about human rights in Xinjiang, territorial issues in the South China Sea, and the Taiwan Strait. No other Korean president has ever taken such an activist stance, and Chinese President, Xi Jinping is not known for absolution.
Finally, the ROK has seen a huge trade opportunity in the African Continental Free Trade Area and a huge African market.
CHO states that “The launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) further underscores its emergence as a vast single market with a population of 1.4 billion and a combined GDP of 3.4 trillion US dollars.”
So, what is ROK’s offer to Africa in return? CHO claims that “Korea has a unique historical experience that could offer valuable insights to African countries on their journey to prosperity” This is not Africa’s priority.
The critical priorities for Africa are three. The first is investments. According to the Korean Ministry of Economy and Finance, the ROK’s 2023 Outbound Foreign Direct Investment (OFDI) amounted to US$ 63.38 billion: North America $31.32billion, Europe $10.66 billion, Asia $10.66 billion, and Latin America $9.41 billion. These 4 regions took 98 per cent of the OFDI and only 2 per cent went to other regions including Africa.
The Summit needs to set a goal of at least 20 per cent of the OFDI going to Africa.
This is possible if the ROK invests in mining, processing, and refining critical minerals in Africa.
Without these investments, Africa is losing. Africa is exporting minerals at low prices compared to value-added processed products. According to an IMF Sub-Saharan Africa report published on April 29, 2024, “Raw bauxite, for instance, fetches a modest $65 per ton, but when processed into aluminium it commands a hefty $2,335 per ton, in end-2023 prices.”
Trade is the next priority. An analysis of Korea Customs Service statistics reveals that the ROK 2023 total trade volume was US$ 1,274,797,950,000.
The top five trading partners were China US$ 267,675,020,000; USA US$ 186,968,364,000; Vietnam US$ 79,421,317,000; Japan US$ 76,657,084,000; and Australia US$ 50,614,309,000. Trade with Africa was only US$ 23,885,876,000. This figure is too low, especially for African exports to the ROK.
The reason is that the ROK has no FTA with Africa, which makes African agricultural products uncompetitive. For example, the Korean import duty for mango is 30 per cent. The duty rates for countries with FTAs are as follows: Peru 0 per cent, EU 5.4 per cent, Columbia 8.5%, USA 9 per cent, Australia 9 per cent, Vietnam 12 per cent, Canada 12 per cent, and India 15 per cent. An FTA should be established immediately exempting African agricultural products from all tariffs.
Third, the Summit needs to craft an Africa-ROK policy, aligned with Agenda 2063, to upgrade current relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, at par with the US, China, Japan, EU, EU Member States, UK, ASEAN and India.
If African priorities are taken into consideration, and the focus of the Summit shifts from fragmented country bilateral deals to Africa-ROK win-win relations, then the 2024 KOREA-AFRICA SUMMIT will be a game changer.
Ambassador Ngovi Kitau
First Kenyan Ambassador to the Republic of Korea and Specialist in Korean Peninsula Studies.