Korea-Africa Startups Gather in One Place... Policy and Information Exchange

'Korea-Africa Youth Startup Forum' Held
African Leaders, Startups, Investors Attend

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that the ‘2024 Korea-Africa Youth Startup Forum’ was held on the 5th at the Four Seasons Hotel in Seoul.

President Yoon Suk-yeol and President Muhammad Ould Ghazouani of Mauritania shake hands after a joint press conference for the 2024 Korea-Africa Summit at KINTEX in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province on the 4th.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

This forum was organized to facilitate policy and information exchange between Korean and African startups in conjunction with the Korea-Africa Summit. Over 200 participants attended, including African leaders and officials such as Aymadi Hachani, Prime Minister of Tunisia, and Jessica Alupo, Vice President of Uganda, as well as startups, investors, and related organizations.

In Session 1, titled ‘Sharing Korea-Africa Startup Policies!’, key youth startup support policies from Algeria, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups’ Uganda Youth Startup Academy, and KAIST’s KONZA Technopolis development project aimed at cultivating advanced science and technology talent and fostering the startup ecosystem in Kenya were introduced.

In the following Session 2, ‘Korea-Africa Startups Share Secrets to Success!’, success stories were shared by Bode Abifarin, founding Chief Operating Officer (COO) of African fintech unicorn Flutterwave, Jin Yuha, CEO of domestic startup Tela, and Jang Seong-eun, CEO of York.

The final session, Session 3, ‘Discussing Korea-Africa Startup Investment Trends!’, featured Jeon Hwa-seong, Chairman of the Korea Accelerator Association, expressing his commitment to nurturing African startups wishing to enter the Korean market. Chairman Jeon stated, “Korea has a well-developed startup ecosystem and infrastructure that allows African startups to enter the Asian hub market. In particular, the ‘K-Startup Grand Challenge’ is an accelerator program that helps overseas startups settle in Korea.”

At the opening remarks, Yeo Woon-gi, Chairman of the Korea-Africa Foundation, emphasized, “Africa, a young continent where over two-thirds of the population is under 30, is solving various social issues through innovative and creative ideas based on youth entrepreneurship. I hope this forum serves as a valuable opportunity for stakeholders in the Korean and African startup ecosystems to come together and explore future cooperation plans for youth startups.”

In his congratulatory speech, Oh Ki-woong, Vice Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, “We must cooperate with Africa, which has great innovation and growth potential, in new ways for mutual prosperity. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will strive to provide more opportunities so that more innovative Korean tech startups can grow together with African companies and contribute to expanding the local startup ecosystem.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.