The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) and the Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM) have signed a new memorandum of understanding to deepen co-financing cooperation on projects across Africa and mobilise additional resources for the continent’s sustainable development.
The agreement, inked on 9 September in Seoul by AfDB President Dr Sidi Ould Tah and KEXIM President and CEO Hwang Ki-yeon, replaces a cooperation framework dating back to 2005 and establishes new mechanisms to identify and finance high-impact projects in priority sectors.
In his remarks, said President Ould Tah said: “Our priority is now to translate this framework into a concrete portfolio of high-impact projects by mobilising funding, technologies and expertise from the Korean private sector in areas essential to the continent’s economic transformation, notably artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, critical minerals, energy and transport.”
The five-year agreement will provide a framework to strengthen technical and financial cooperation between the two institutions, supporting sustainable and inclusive growth in Africa. This partnership initiative was launched on the sidelines of the 8th Korea-Africa Economic Cooperation (KOAFEC) Ministerial Conference, which this year marks 20 years since the forum’s founding. KOAFEC has evolved from a political dialogue platform into a vehicle for project preparation, investment mobilisation and private-sector engagement.
Since its inception, KOAFEC has channelled about $50 million into project preparation, helping to generate an investment pipeline exceeding $6 billion and mobilise approximately $4 billion in financing.
The Memorandum of Understanding aims to consolidate economic ties between Korea and the Bank’s regional member countries, whilst strengthening structured cooperation between the two institutions in co-financing. It provides for closer collaboration to identify, assess and develop joint financing opportunities by drawing on the respective financial instruments of both partners, including loans, guarantees and equity investments.
The two institutions will focus their efforts on several strategic areas, including artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technologies, the infrastructure required to deploy them, supply chain resilience, the development and processing of critical minerals, transport, urban development, green infrastructure, and products for financial institutions, including trade guarantee instruments.
This new memorandum fully aligns with President Ould Tah’s vision, which places strategic partnerships, large-scale capital mobilisation and private investment at the heart of his ‘Four Cardinal Points’ strategic vision. It also aligns with the ambition of the AfDB’s New African Financial Architecture for Development (NAFAD), an initiative designed to reorganise the African financial system, further mobilise the continent’s domestic resources – estimated at $4 trillion – and better connect Africa to international markets and partners to increase investment flows for the continent’s transformation.
This agreement also reflects Korea and AfDB’s shared commitment to accelerate investment in the sectors that will shape Africa’s competitiveness and economic transformation over the coming decades. It comes amid growing interest in the continent’s potential across digital technology, energy, infrastructure and value-added industrialisation.
