The African Development Bank (AfDB) has signed a Joint Declaration with the Korean Government for a $5 billion bilateral financial assistance package for Africa.
The deal was sealed at a Ministerial Roundtable of the Korea-Africa Economic Cooperation (KOAFEC) Conference held during AfDB’s 53rd Annual Meetings in the Asian country.
The President of AfDB, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina and the Deputy Prime Minister of Korea, Dong Yeon Kim, signed three cooperation agreements for the implementation of certain components of the $5-billion package by the Bank Group.
Available information sourced from the African Press Organisation (APO) Group on the deal indicated that the $5-billion financial assistance package would be delivered over two years through partnerships with various development agencies, including but not limited to the African Development Bank Group.
The package is targeted at leveraging resources from various Korean bilateral agencies and platforms, including the Knowledge Sharing Program, the Economic Development Cooperation Fund, Korea Import-Export Bank, among others.
According to reports, the first is the extension of the General Cooperation Agreement which allowed for the replenishment of the KOAFEC Trust Fund housed at the African Development Bank with US $18 million.
The Trust Fund, now totaling $93 million will continue to provide critical capacity building grants and resources for project feasibility studies. An Action Plan of 20 KOAFEC projects were endorsed during the Conference for 2019-2020 destined for a diverse group of countries and sectors.
The continental development finance institution and the Republic of Korea also signed an agreement with the intent to provide up to $600 million towards the energy sector.
This is in addition to another MOU for the Korea-AfDB Tech Corps Programme, which will allow for the exchange of technical expertise and human resources, to address ongoing challenges of youth unemployment in both regions.
Adesina enthused: “Africa needs to build, and we will build, wider partnerships for development. We want to build strong investment partnerships with Asia going forward.”
