By Lee Hae-rin

Korea and African countries have come together to build stronger economic and diplomatic ties beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under the theme of "Strengthening Korea-Africa Partnership in the post-COVID19 Era," the 5th Korea-Africa Forum was held on March 3 in Seoul. Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong and ministerial-level officials from African Union (AU) member states ― including Senegal, Malawi, Libya and Chad ― discussed partnerships in public health, trade and investment, and peace and security.

Their discussion resulted in the Seoul Declaration, calling for cooperation in these sectors and a framework for cooperation to accelerate industrialization in Africa and expand Korea's global supply chain by 2026.

Albert Muchanga, AU commissioner for economic development, trade, industry and mining, who attended the forum, stressed the emerging market potential of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Muchanga introduced automotive and agro-processing industries as key economic growth drivers if they are combined with Korea's technical cooperation, during a Zoom interview with The Korea Times, Thursday.

"We are creating a market in the African Continental Free Trade Area. It's going to be a grouping of all the 55 member states of the AU with the minimum number of thresholds for it to come into force as equal to one," the commissioner said. "We've ratified the agreement and it's already operating. Now we need large markets."

The AfCFTA is the world's largest free trade area, established in 2018, which encompasses 1.27 billion people with an estimated $3 trillion in combined GDP.

According to the commissioner, the inter-African trade of both finished and intermediate goods in car manufacturing will produce a competitive cost structure. Over 10,000 automotive components could be manufactured in different parts of Africa and traded with minimum tariffs.

"The African Association of Automotive Manufacturers (AAAM) has attracted quite a number of market players in the automotive industry," the commissioner said, naming global market players such as BMW of Germany, Ford of the United States and Toyota of Japan as examples.

The AU looks forward to Korean automotive players' technical cooperation to enable goods made in Africa to meet international standards.

Another area with high potential for economic growth is agro-processing, or activities to transform agricultural products into different forms.

"Africa is the only region in the world that still has a lot of virgin land," the commissioner said, referring to its fertile land that has not been used for anything at all.

The continent could offer its geographical assets for agriculture, including water and favorable weather conditions, in exchange for Korea's technical cooperation in manufacturing to meet the international sanitary and phytosanitary standards for processing.