The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) and the Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM) have signed a new five-year agreement aimed at increasing financing for strategic projects across Africa and strengthening economic and trade ties between the continent and South Korea.
The memorandum of understanding (MoU), signed in Seoul on 9 September 2026 by AfDB President Dr Sidi Ould Tah and KEXIM President and CEO Hwang Ki-yeon, replaces a cooperation framework established in 2005.
The new agreement creates a framework for the two institutions to identify, assess and jointly finance high-impact projects across African markets. Financing can include loans, guarantees and equity investments.
The partnership will focus on sectors with significant implications for Africa’s trade and industrial development, including critical minerals, mineral processing, transport infrastructure, digital technologies, artificial intelligence, energy, green infrastructure and supply-chain resilience.
For African exporters, the focus on supply chains, transport infrastructure and financial instruments could support efforts to improve market access and strengthen connections between producers, processors and international buyers.
The agreement also includes financial products for financial institutions, including trade guarantee instruments, which can help facilitate international trade and support businesses operating across African markets.
“Our priority is now to translate this framework into a concrete portfolio of high-impact projects by mobilising funding, technologies and expertise from the Korean private sector,” Ould Tah said, highlighting artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, critical minerals, energy and transport as key areas.
The agreement builds on the wider Korea-Africa Economic Cooperation (KOAFEC) platform, which has developed from a political dialogue forum into a mechanism supporting project preparation, investment mobilisation and private-sector engagement.
Since its inception, KOAFEC has channelled approximately $50 million into project preparation. This has helped generate an investment pipeline exceeding $6 billion and mobilise about $4 billion in financing.
The latest AfDB-KEXIM agreement comes as African economies seek to expand value-added production and strengthen their participation in global supply chains. Critical minerals, in particular, are becoming increasingly important as demand grows for resources used in energy, technology and industrial applications.
The partnership is also aligned with the AfDB’s New African Financial Architecture for Development, which aims to mobilise more investment for Africa and strengthen connections between African economies and international capital markets.
By combining Korean technology and private-sector expertise with the AfDB’s financing capabilities and regional network, the two institutions intend to develop projects that can support infrastructure, industrialisation, trade and investment across African markets.