South Korea and Africa have agreed to strengthen cooperation across various sectors, with a primary focus on AI ecosystems and digital infrastructure.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance announced that Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yoon-cheol and African Development Bank President Sidi Ould Tah adopted the 2026 KOAFEC Joint Declaration containing these initiatives during the Korea-Africa Economic Cooperation Ministerial Conference held today (the 9th) at the Grand Walkerhill Seoul.

KOAFEC is an economic cooperation consultative body launched in 2006 to facilitate high-level economic policy dialogue and discover development cooperation projects between South Korea and Africa.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of its launch.

To implement the joint declaration, both sides established the 2027/28 KOAFEC Action Plan outlining specific cooperation directions for the next two years and approved 13 KOAFEC trust fund projects across seven fields: AI and digital, urban development, education and capacity building, agriculture, energy, environment, and health.

Domestic AI and digital innovation institutions and companies are scheduled to participate as partner organizations in these projects, applying South Korean technology and experience to development sites in Africa.

They also signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) on the establishment of the Korea-Africa AI-Hub to create a dedicated platform for continuously promoting South Korea-Africa AI cooperation.

The plan involves setting up the African Development Bank's AI-Hub in South Korea, linking South Korea's AI capabilities with the AfDB's African network to support Africa's AI transformation and South Korea-Africa AI cooperation.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Koo held separate bilateral meetings with Botswana's Vice President and Minister of Finance Ndaba Nkosinathi Gaolathe and Tanzania's Minister of Information and Communications Angela Jasmine Mbelwa Kairuki to discuss ways to expand bilateral economic cooperation.

(Photo provided by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Yonhap News)