The President of Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol, on Tuesday, announced a $14 billion commitment in export financing to support Korean companies investing in Africa while increasing its official development assistance (ODA) to $10 billion by 2030.
Suk Yeol made the Pledges during the first Korea-Africa Summit, today, attended by 25 African heads of state and government, as well as the president of the African Development Bank Group Dr Akinwumi Adesina.
In his address, Adesina referred to the theme of the summit and said: “To show solidarity with Africa, for the ‘future we make together’, I wish to request that Korea solidify this Korea-Africa summit by agreeing to rechannel SDRs (Special Drawing Rights) to the African Development Bank.”
He added: “The approval by the IMF Board for use of SDRs of $20 billion for hybrid capital, as championed by our institutions, with immense advocacy of African heads of state and government, marks a new way to scale up development financing.”
Adesina also highlighted the deep relationship between Korea and the Bank, starting from 1982 when Korea became a member of the Bank.
Since then, he said, Korea “has contributed close to $795 million to the Bank, the African Development Fund and the Korea Trust Fund.”