KSP expects to serve as a catalyst for sustainable development in Africa

“The Economic Development Experience Sharing Project (KSP), a policy advisory project based on Korea’s development experience, can serve as a catalyst for the sustainable development of African countries.”

Kim Jeong-wook, director of the International Development Cooperation Center at the Korea Development Institute (KDI), said in a keynote presentation at the 'Economic Development Experience Sharing Project (KSP) Africa Regional Seminar' held at the Grand Walkerhill Hotel in Seoul on the 9th, "Africa has new opportunities such as global supply chain reorganization, green transition, African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and artificial intelligence (AI)."

Director Kim added, however, that these opportunities do not automatically lead to sustainable development, and that “appropriate policies, systems, and implementation capabilities are needed.”

This seminar, hosted by the Ministry of Finance and Economy, was prepared in conjunction with the 8th Korea-Africa Economic Cooperation (KOAFEC) Ministerial Meeting.

Kang Yun-jin, Director of the Development Finance Bureau of the Ministry of Finance and Economy, said in his opening speech, "KSP supports the establishment of an institutional foundation for policy establishment in partner countries based on Korea's development experience and knowledge. This role will become more important in the future in translating policy into action and connecting that action with concrete results for sustainable development."

KSP, hosted by the Ministry of Finance and Economy, is a policy advisory project that supports the economic and social development of partner countries based on Korea's economic development experience.

Since launching KSP in 2004, the government has supported the economic and social development and policy capacity strengthening of various countries by carrying out over 800 projects with 106 countries and 12 international organizations for 23 years until this year.

At the seminar, government officials from Ghana, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe attended and presented cases and results of KSP cooperation promoted in their countries.

In a presentation on 'Establishment of an integrated water resources and sanitation management system based on data in Ghana for 2022-2023', Deputy Director of Ghana's Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, Setina Okornoe, explained, "The KSP policy recommendation on integrated water resources management was to establish an information system based on Korea's information and communication technology (ICT), set indicators for collecting relevant data, and review appropriate financing measures."

He said, "KSP is a very good experience for Ghana, and if we had not participated in this program, we may not have been able to build an information system in this field. We hope to expand our business throughout Ghana and look forward to more cooperation and support from Korea."

Mozambique introduced cases of natural gas vehicle (NGV) support projects by Korea Gas Safety Corporation, and Zimbabwe introduced cases of Korea's creation of an industry-academia cooperation ecosystem and support for startups.

Eric Ogunleye, director of the African Development Institute (ADI), said in a keynote presentation on 'Major challenges and policy demands for Africa's industrial structure transformation' that "Africa has had many aspirations, visions, strategies, and policies, but the problem is how to move to the implementation stage that benefits the people."

Director Ogunleye emphasized, "Africa has markets and natural resources, but the important thing is how to bring them together and turn them into elements that are helpful to Africa. The most important thing in Africa is to create jobs for young people by building an industrial ecosystem."

In the ensuing discussion, Ghanaian Ambassador to Korea Choi Choi-jo, the first Korean-American African ambassador to Korea, said, “Markets and trustworthy partnerships, that is, close friendships, are two different key elements that will enable us to work with Africa,” and looked forward to collaboration between Korea and Ghana, especially in human resource development, infrastructure, and AI.

Meanwhile, more than 130 people attended the seminar that day, filling the art hall on the 4th floor of the hotel convention center.