1. On December 10, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea, together with the Korea-Africa Foundation, held the 2021 Seoul Dialogue on Africa under the theme of “Rethinking Solidarity: Korea-Africa Partnership in the Interconnectivity Era.”

° The Dialogue was supposed to be held as part of the 5th Korea-Africa Forum, along with the Korea-Africa Business Forum. However, as the 5th Korea-Africa Forum was delayed due to concerns over the spread of the Omicron variant, this Dialogue was held in a hybrid format with online participation of overseas speakers.

2. Choi Jong Kun, 1st Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea, stressed in his welcoming remarks that Africa is actively responding to the global crises with solidarity and Korea, as the country that has grown from a developing country to a developed country in one generation, hopes to strengthen the equal and sustainable partnership with Africa.

° Vice Minister Choi said that Korea hopes to forge a partnership for co-prosperity with Africa in the fields of health, climate change, and peace and security. He pledged cooperation for the vaccine supply, support for the transition to a low carbon economy, focusing on the development of renewable energy, and continued contribution to the UN and the AU’s peace keeping activities in Africa. 

° Secondly, he hoped to forge a mutually-beneficial economic partnership with Africa. He added that Africa is an important partner to Korea in terms of diversifying global supply chains for raw materials. In addition, he hoped to introduce Korea’s UNI-PASS, an electronic customs clearance system, to more African countries, which would contribute to building customs infrastructure in Africa.

° Lastly, he hoped to forge a people-centered partnership with Africa and added that he will expand not only high-level exchanges but also youth exchanges through government scholarship programs and vocational trainings.

3. Prominent figures participated in the Forum’s opening session as speakers, including Ban Ki-moon, Chairman of the Ban Ki-moon Foundation For a Better Future and former UN Secretary-General; Shin Hyun-young, Secretary-General of the National Assembly’s Forum for Africa’s New Era; and Carlos Victor Boungou, Dean of the African Group of Ambassadors and Ambassador of Gabon to Korea. 

° During the session, the speakers stressed the importance of the international solidarity and cooperation in the response to the global crises and hoped to strengthen the partnership between Korea and Africa in a wide range of fields such as COVID-19 vaccine supply and the development of renewable energy.  

4. Speakers, including Ahmed Ogwell Ouma, Deputy Director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Kulthoum Omari-Motsumi, Special Advisor to the Africa Adaptation Initiative (AAI), discussed the current status of African health care system and the public procurement of medicines, as well as the importance of climate change response and the current status of climate finance for Africa. And they explored ways to expand cooperation between Korea and Africa on these matters.

5. The Dialogue provided an opportunity to explore various ways for further substantial cooperation between Korea and Africa in the fields of health, climate change and peace and security, and to expand the horizon of Korea-Africa cooperation.