Global Economic Times

South Africa G20 Linkage: One Month Focus on Africa Entry as the Next-Generation Growth Engine: Global Economic Times Reporter / Updated : 2025-11-25 08:10:07

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (referred to hereafter as MOTIE, Minister Kim Jeong-gwan) and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (referred to hereafter as KOTRA, President Kang Gyeong-seong) are focusing on expanding the achievements of Korea-Africa economic cooperation. This is being done by successively holding "Africa Regional Economic Cooperation Events" for about a month, starting from early November, in connection with the '2025 G20 Summit' (Nov. 22-23, South Africa).

With a population of 1.5 billion, of which 60% are young people under the age of 25, Africa is the world's youngest and largest consumer market. Through the hosting of the first G20, it is evaluated to have emerged beyond a 'Land of Opportunity' to become 'the present and future growth axis.'

Amid the reorganization of the global economic order and the aftermath of global economic uncertainty, Korean companies are focusing on establishing new market strategies. As of October 2025, Korea’s exports to Africa stand at $7.88 billion, accounting for only 1.4% of Korea’s total exports. However, the population of the African continent reaches 1.5 billion and is projected to exceed 1.7 billion by 2030. In particular, the youth population under the age of 25 accounts for 60% of the total, playing the role of a growth engine. While the overall GDP growth rate for Africa in 2024 is around 3.5%, some countries are rapidly growing with high economic growth rates of 7% to 11%, leading to a surge in demand across various industries such as consumer goods, food, and healthcare.

In the reorganization of the global supply chain, Africa can offer infinite opportunities to Korean companies. This is because it possesses abundant resources like cobalt and lithium, leading to high demand for cooperation in mineral production and exploration projects. Some domestic companies have already gone beyond simple resource imports to sign long-term purchase contracts and are working to establish a circular value chain that leads to local processing and recycling. These efforts are expected not only to increase the stability of the global supply chain for critical minerals but also to build a virtuous cycle system of technology, manpower, and investment between Korea and Africa, ultimately generating long-term mutual synergy.

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