South Korea Forays Into Cameroon, and Africa.

Yaounde, Cameroon Africa. (Cameroon News) – South Korea looks at Africa for a new and larger export market.

South Korea’s government owned and operated trade agency issued a press release on Wednesday stating that it will start a new business center in Ethiopia this week. This will be the first in the three business-trade support centers which are proposed to be inaugurated in Africa this year.

The Korea Business Center (KBC) in Ethiopia will be inaugurated on Thursday (local time) in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, according to the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA).

South Korea C&K Mining to develop Diamond Mine In Yakadouma, Cameroon

KOTRA will also set up a KBC in Accra, the capital of Ghana, on Friday, which will be taken one by one in Douala, the largest city in Cameroon, in September.
The total number of South Korean business support centers in Africa will be ramped up to seven this year after three more KBCs are inaugurated in various parts of Africa.

“Africa had long been regarded as a subject of one-sided assistance and not a business partner due to years of civil wars, famine and diseases, but with a reduction of armed conflicts and strong economic growth that has stayed above an annual average of 5 percent since 2004 the region is now becoming a new trade partner,” KOTRA said.

KOTRA have understood the vast potential that Africa has to morph into one of the world’s most lucrative markets in the future with close to 800 million people residing in the 48 countries south of the Sahara Desert.

Africa’s imports became almost double from US$154 billion in 2004 to $324 billion in 2008, reporting an annual growth of over 20 percent, it said.

Cameroon Diamond Mining Industry - South Korea CK Mining develop Diamond Mine Yakadouma

In 2009, South Korea sold around $9.62 billion worth of products to Africa, which amounts to only about 2 percent of its annual exports.

“Africa is also becoming very important as a future source of energy for our country as the region has the world’s third largest reserves of oil and the world’s fourth largest reserves of natural gas,” KOTRA said.