Forum highlights Africa's golden infrastructure opportunities

Korea is keen on securing more African infrastructure projects, including roads, railways and airports given the continent's impressive economic growth and population increase.

Officials from African nations and Korea pose for a photo during the 2024 Korea-Africa Infrastructure Forum, hosted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, on Wednesday at The Westin Chosun in central Seoul. [MINISTRY OF LAND, INFRASTRUCTURE, AND TRANSPORT]

Korea is keen on securing more African infrastructure projects, including roads, railways and airports given the continent's impressive economic growth and population increase.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport hosted the Korea-Africa Infrastructure Forum Thursday at The Westin Chosun in central Seoul, inviting Tanzania's president, ministers from Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda, as well as representatives from Korean companies.

The forum, a key side event of the Korea-Africa Summit, sought to strengthen dialogue and explore sustainable infrastructure investment, cooperation and long-term development opportunities.

Korean public enterprises are in discussions to participate in key infrastructure projects across Africa, including the New Nyali Bridge and road improvement project in Kenya, the Accra-Elubo Highway expansion project in Ghana, and the Green City project in Rwanda.

Korea's land and infrastructure minister, Park Sang-woo, emphasized the country's intent to share its growth experiences with African nations and highlighted the role of strategic projects in the country’s rapid economic development.

“Africa, with its rapidly growing economy and population, must systematically build its infrastructure,” Park said in his opening remarks at the event.

"Today, large-scale infrastructure projects such as roads, railways and airports cannot be pursued solely through the traditional business structure where the government finances the projects, and the private sector handles construction and supervision," Park said. He stressed comprehensive strategies, including advanced financial management, project financing capabilities and sophisticated project management plans.

African leaders echoed the sentiment, expressing a strong desire for cooperation.

The Tanzanian president Samia Suluhu Hassan, the highest-level African official who participated in the forum, pointed out the substantial infrastructure financing gap, noting that Africa needs up to $170 billion annually to upgrade its infrastructure, with a current shortfall of $108 billion.

"Imagine the transformative impact if more private sector actors, particularly from Korea, partnered with us," Hassan said, highlighting investment opportunities such as railway development, medium shipbuilding, and CNG and LNG production and distribution.

"I, therefore, call upon the Korean government and financial institutions to support more Korean participation in African infrastructure projects through public-private partnership arrangements," she said. "By doing so, we can achieve sustainable development and economic growth that benefits both Africa and Korea."

Ghana emphasized the need for sustainable infrastructure projects that integrate environmental considerations.

"I would like to extend an invitation to the Korean firm to explore partnerships in Africa and Ghana, particularly the expertise and innovative solutions that Korean companies bring to the table can significantly enhance our infrastructure development efforts," said Francis Asenso-Boakye, Ghana's minister for Roads and Highways.

Kenya cited several infrastructure projects in collaboration with Korea, including the implementation of an intelligent traffic system, the construction of a second Nyali Bridge in the Mombasa region, and the expansion of the major highway between Nairobi and Mombasa.

Kipchumba Murkomen, Kenya's minister of Roads and Transport, emphasized the importance of expediting these projects for timely development.

"Some of us, just like South Korea, who are in government for a short time period because of election cycles, we would like to see that these processes are expedited so that we achieve the necessary development within the necessary period for us," he said. "We request that these processes are expedited so that we realize these great developments in our lifetime and so that we can catch up with your great, great development that you are seeing in your country here in Korea."

During Thursday's forum, Korea signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Rwanda on smart cities, infrastructure, and mobility cooperation. This follows Minister Park's April visit to Rwanda as a presidential envoy to strengthen ties in construction and infrastructure.

The MOU outlines plans to build a government-to-government cooperation platform for new towns, share knowledge and increase the Economic Development Cooperation Fund from $500 million to $1 billion.

Additionally, both nations discussed ways to jointly pursue urban and housing projects using policy funds and share knowledge to enhance capabilities.

The Korea Overseas Infrastructure & Urban Development Corporation (KIND) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) also signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) for cooperation to foster infrastructure and urban development in African countries.

BY SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]