Kenya is looking to boost its trade relations with South Korea by wooing more investors from the Asian country in the upcoming first ever Korea-Africa summit.
Scheduled to take place between June 4-5 in Ilsan and Seoul, Korea, the forum seeks to offer Korean investors the opportunity to explore market entry strategies into Africa and enhance their understanding of cooperation measures.
Additionally, the partnership will provide support for African companies seeking to do business in South Korea and the larger Asian region.
This is particularly in light of the full implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area(AfCFTA) agreement.
Speaking during a pre-summit event in Korea, Kenya’s ambassador to Korea Emmy Kipsoi told the Korean investors that Kenya is open for business.
“We are the most stable democracy in East Africa founded on the rule of law which provides a predictable and safe environment for investments,” Kipsoi said.
“Kenya receives more venture capital than any other country on the continent, dramatically outperforming other leading countries, including Nigeria, Egypt, and South Africa, when scaled to their respective gross domestic products.”
The East Asian nation seeks to explore areas of cooperation with African countries across infrastructure, agriculture, healthcare, technology, energy and social development sectors.
The pre-summit conference was organised by Seoul law firm Jipyong LLC and Nairobi-based legal firm G&A Advocates LLP.
The two law firms entered into a collaboration arrangement in April to support Korean companies interested in entering the African market.
Kenya is already a hub for several Korean companies like Samsung Electronics, Hyundai, Daewoo and Korea Telecom.
Nairobi, however, wants to use the summit to ramp up more foreign direct investments from Seoul.
Kenya’s main exports to Korea include coffee, titanium ore and scrap copper.
On the other hand, Kenya's imports include iron and steel, organic chemicals, machinery, nuclear reactors, boilers, and man-made staple fibers.
According to the Kenya Economic Survey 2023, the value of imports from South Korea increased from Sh22.3 billion in 2021 to Sh50.2 billion in 2022, mainly due to increased imports of kerosene type jet fuel.
Exports equally increased to Sh6.1 billion, from Sh3.9 billion.
