Musings From Abroad

South Korea, African nations seal exports, minerals agreement

Published

4 months ago

June 6, 2024

South Korea’s industry ministry announced on Wednesday that around 50 agreements and partnerships had been struck during the country’s first summit with leaders from 48 African nations to collaborate in industries like mining, energy, and manufacturing.

According to a statement from the ministry, Hyosung Corp (004800. KS), a South Korean corporation, inked a $30 million contract to supply electric transformers to Mozambique. To guarantee supplies for sectors like batteries, the industry ministry has inked agreements to collaborate on important minerals with Tanzania and Madagascar.

The statement stated that Korean-African relations, which commenced in the 1950s due to the significant involvement and assistance of several African nations in the Korean War, had evolved into a mutually advantageous partnership.

The fourth-largest economy in Asia signed 47 agreements with 23 African nations during the summit in an attempt to gain access to the continent’s abundant mineral resources and sizable export market.

“Despite its enormous potential, Africa still accounts for only 1-2% of South Korea’s trade and investment..,” South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol told a gathering of about 200 political and industry leaders from African countries and South Korea at a business summit on Wednesday.

“I hope that mutually beneficial resource cooperation will be expanded,” Yoon said.

On Tuesday, Yoon said that South Korea will provide $10 billion in development aid to Africa over the next six years, in addition to offering $14 billion in export finance to encourage trade and investment for Korean businesses operating on the continent.

With world and emerging powers like the United States, France, Russia, China, Italy, Germany, and India hosting African summits recently, the number of international players interested in Africa has increased with South Korea now on the train. However, some pan-African analysts have questioned whether the summit series is in the best interests of the continent as a whole.

The core of the many summit agreements condemns Africa to its long role of being an extractive raw material economy which keeps it handicapped in the global economy against industrialized economies.

Musings From Abroad

Saudi Arabia, Egypt strengthen investment ties, call for Gaza truce

Published

2 days ago

October 16, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

During discussions in Cairo on Tuesday, Egypt’s President, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, called for a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon.

The meeting also marked the beginning of a strengthen economic and investment cooperation.

According to Egypt’s presidency, the leaders observed the formation of a supreme coordination committee between Riyadh and Cairo to further collaboration, as well as the signing of an agreement to promote and safeguard mutual investments between the two nations.

The visit is taking place amid rumours regarding possible Saudi investments in Egypt, which this year has seen a significant inflow of outside funding, including a $35 billion transaction with the UAE sovereign fund ADQ.

In 2022, the crown prince, also referred to as MbS paid his final official visit to Egypt. Saudi Arabia, which had previously given Sisi’s Egypt financial help, later said it was going to start investing instead of giving allies direct assistance.

According to a statement released by the president on Tuesday, the two leaders discussed efforts to strengthen economic ties between Cairo and Riyadh, with a focus on trade, investment, and economic integration in the transportation, energy, and tourist sectors.

According to the presidency, the leaders also spoke about regional events, specifically the circumstances in Gaza and Lebanon, and “they demanded to start taking steps to reach calm that include a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon.”

By Tuesday afternoon, Egypt’s government dollar bonds had gained the most, with longer-dated maturities seeing the biggest gains. By 11:28 GMT, the 2059 maturity gained 1.73 cents, bidding at 77.80 cents on the dollar.

Last month, the prime minister of Egypt declared that Saudi Arabia intended to spend $5 billion in Egypt, separate and apart from the money the Gulf state had already placed in the Egyptian central bank.

Two tourist development locations on Egypt’s Red Sea coast and in the country’s southern Sinai peninsula—both of which are across Saudi Arabia—are potential investment destinations.

In order to address a protracted economic crisis that has resulted in record inflation, a mounting debt load, and significant currency devaluations over the last two years, Egypt has been actively pursuing substantial investments.

Musings From Abroad

Uganda, Turkey announce $3 billion electric train agreement

Published

2 days ago

October 15, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Uganda announced on Tuesday that it had reached a $3 billion agreement with a Turkish business to construct an electric railway line that would connect the landlocked nation to Kenya, its neighbour.

According to Transport Minister, Katumba Wamala, the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) track will connect Malaba on the Kenyan border with Kampala, the capital of Uganda.

“We signed a contract with Yapi Merkezi from Turkey for construction of a 272-kilometre (170-mile) line at euros 2.7 billion,” or $3 billion, Wamala told AFP.

He claimed that work on the line, which is a 1,700-kilometer regional rail project, is scheduled to start in November and that Yapi Merkezi had stated that the project would be finished in four years.

“With the railway network in place, Uganda hopes to overcome the long delays of transporting goods from Mombasa,” Wamala said, referring to Kenya’s Indian Ocean port city which is a major gateway for Ugandan trade.

According to Yapi Merkezi, the agreement includes both the delivery of train cars and the building of the railway. The trains can travel at speeds of up to 120 km/h and can carry 25 million tonnes of cargo annually.

“This should enable us to cut cargo transport costs by half,” Ramathan Ggoobi, permanent secretary at the Ugandan finance ministry, said in a government video shared online.

“I am telling you we are the second most expensive route in the world… now we should be amongst the most competitive.”

The Turkish company and Tanzania reached a separate agreement to build an electric railway connecting the nation’s major hubs, which was followed by the Ugandan accord.

In July of this year, services on the SGR line that links the capital Dodoma with Tanzania’s biggest metropolis Dar es Salaam commenced.

In 2022, Tanzania also came to an agreement worth $2.2 billion with a Chinese company to construct the last segment of the SGR line, which will connect Tanzania’s main port to its neighbours.