1. During his visit to Addis Ababa, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia on the sidelines of the 2019 Africa Industrialization Week (AIW, November 18-22), Deputy Minister for Economic Affairs Yun Kang-hyeon attended the 2019 Africa-Korea Business Forum, sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the African Union (AU), and hosted by the Korea-Africa Foundation (KAF, President Choi Yeon-ho) in his capacity as a keynote speaker.

○ On November 20, Deputy Minister Yun delivered his congratulatory remarks at the opening ceremony of the 2019 AIW marking its 30^th anniversary, and visited the Africa-Korea Startup/SMEs Fair. On November 21, he met with AU Commissioner for Trade and Industry Albert Muchanga and Ethiopian State Minister for Business and Diaspora Affairs Aklilu Hailemichael, had a meeting with Korean businesspeople in Ethiopia, and laid a wreath at the Ethiopian Korean War Veterans Memorial Park. On November 22, following the 2019 Africa-Korea Business Forum, he held a meeting with the heads of offices of the five public agencies in Ethiopia and asked them to work together at the government-wide level.

2. The 2019 Africa-Korea Business Forum was agreed at the 4^th ROK-Africa Forum (ministerial level) held in Addis Ababa in December 2016. Under the theme “ROK-Africa partnership for accelerating industrialization in Africa,” the event took place with the aim to explore cooperation between the ROK and Africa in achieving industrialization in Africa.

3. The forum kicked off with the welcoming remarks by KAF President Choi. In his keynote speech, Commissioner Muchanga, who had taken a leadership role in launching the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), said that sharing the ROK’s industrial development experiences will be much more helpful in reorganizing the industrial ecosystem mainly led by African SMEs under the AfCFTA system.

4. Going forward, Deputy Minister Yun mentioned that despite the huge outcome of entry into force of the Agreement Establishing AfCFTA this year, there are still many tasks ahead including industrialization in order to achieve economic development and integration in Africa. He added that throughout this process, the ROK will continue to actively work together with Africa as a genuine partner.

○ Deputy Minister Yun said that the ROK has comparative advantages over the fields of infrastructure, governance and human resource development through its experience of industrialization. As a frontrunner in the area of information and communication technology (ICT), the ROK will serve as an optimal partner for African countries in the fourth industrial revolution era.

5. In the first session, Chief Technical Advisor and Head of the AfCFTA Unit within the Department of Trade and Industry at the AU Prudence Sebahizi delivered a presentation, during which the participants reviewed core values of the AfCFTA as well as the significance of the aforementioned Agreement in the ROK-Africa relations. Manager of the Trade and Investment Climate Division at the African Development Bank (AfDB) Andoh Mensah, citing the infrastructure development in Africa as a key task for the AfCFTA to be effectively implemented, discussed specific and main cooperation areas and possibility of building partnerships between the ROK and Africa.

6. In the second session following the networking luncheon, the participants reviewed the goals of African countries in readiness for their economic leap through the expansion of manufacturing industry, and shared the ROK’s development experiences. Chief Technical Advisor and Head of the Implementation and Coordination Unit (ICU) within the Department of Trade and Industry at the AU Rongai Chizema introduced the gist of a continental initiative for fostering manufacturing industry in Africa. Executive Director Chun Hong-min of the Korea Institute for Development Strategy (KDS) introduced the strategies of manufacturing industry by development phases led by the ROK government since the 1960s, and proposed manufacturing policies for the African countries on the basis of such ROK’s experiences.

7. In the last session, Bernie Akporiaye, co-founder and Managing Director of MaTontine, a Senegalese startup specialized in digital financial service, introduced an African youth enterprises and startups nurturing program. Going forward, Kim Yun-ho, Country Director of the LG Electronics in Ethiopia introduced the LG-KOICA Hope TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) College as an exemplary case, and discussed entrepreneurship as a new growth engine connecting the ROK and Africa.

8. By successfully holding the Africa-Korea Startup/SMEs Fair (November 19-21) as well as the Africa-Korea Business Forum (November 22) in cooperation with the AU on the occasion of the 2019 AIW, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the KAF are deemed to have helped the ROK enterprises build their presence in Africa, a newly emerging market which attracts much attention, and further bolstered economic cooperation between the ROK and Africa as partners of reciprocal cooperation.

○ Especially during the AIW, the Korean SMEs and startups explored a substantial possibility of entering Africa and of cooperation through meetings with African government officials and businesspeople who attended the event. The KAF will continue to provide assistance for the outcomes of this occasion to remain effective.