Seoul pushes for markets, not tech transfer, in new deals with Africa

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol speaks during the 2024 Korea-Africa Summit in Goyang, South Korea on June 4, 2024. PHOTO | REUTERS

South Korea is dangling market reorientation and technological expertise to gain access to African countries, joining a list of global powers wanting a slice of the continent’s resources.

But at the Korea-Africa Summit this week in Seoul, the Asian country steered clear of promising actual technology transfer to Africa, one of the things leaders gathered there had asked directly.