The 2024 Korea-Africa Youth Startup Forum took place to exchange policies and information between Korean and African startups

The ‘2024 Korea-Africa Youth Startup Forum’ took place on Wednesday, June 5, in Seoul as part of the Korea-Africa Summit. The forum aimed to facilitate policy and information exchange between Korean and African startups. About 200 domestic and international participants attended the event, including African leaders, officials, public institutions, academia, and startups.

LYEO Woon-Ki, President of the Korea-Africa Foundation, stated in his opening remarks, “With over two-thirds of the population under the age of 30, the young continent, Africa, is progressively addressing various societal issues through innovative and creative ideas rooted in the entrepreneurial spirit of its youth.” He emphasized, “We hope that this gathering of stakeholders in the startup ecosystem from Korea and Africa will serve as a valuable opportunity to explore future collaboration for startups moving forward.”

OH Kee-woong, Vice Minister of SMEs and Startups, stated in his congratulatory remarks, “We need to establish new forms of collaboration with Africa, a continent with significant potential for innovation and growth, to promote mutual growth.” He added, “MSS will strive to create more opportunities for Korean tech startups to contribute to the expansion of the local startup ecosystem by growing alongside African companies.”

In Session 1 of the forum titled “Sharing Policies for Korea-Africa Startups,” the presentation covered Algeria’s significant startup support policies, the Youth Startup Academy of MSS in Uganda, and the efforts of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) to develop the Konza Technopolis in Kenya, which aims to foster advanced science and technology talent and cultivate the startup ecosystem in Kenya.

In Session 2, titled “Sharing the Korea-Africa Startups’ Secrets to Success,” representatives from both Korean and African startups shared their success stories. Bode Abifarin, COO of Flutterwave, a unicorn fintech startup from Africa; JIN Yu-ha, CEO of TELLA, a domestic startup from Korea; and JANG Seong-eun, CEO of YOLK, presented their success stories.

During Session 3, the final segment of the public forum titled ‘Discussing Investment Trends for Korea-Africa Startups,’ JEON Hwa-seong, CEO of CNT Tech and Chairman of the Korea Startup Accelerator and early-stage Investors Association (KAIA), expressed, “South Korea has developed an ecosystem and infrastructure suitable for Africa’s startups to expand into the Asian hub market. In particular, the ‘K-Startup Grand Challenge’ is an accelerator program that helps overseas startups settle in Korea.” He encouraged participation from African startups in the program while demonstrating a willingness to support incubation for African startups wishing to enter Korea.