Abuja, Sept. 11, 2023: Former President of Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (NACCIMA) Chief John Udeagbala says Nigeria is set to explore opportunities provided by the Africa-Korea Business Summit.
Udeagbala who is to represent Nigeria at the summit said this in a statement on Monday in Abuja.
The 2023 Africa-Korea Business Summit scheduled for Tuesday is with the theme “Africa-Korean Partnership in an Era of Great Transformation’’.
Udeagbala, who is also an ex-officio member of the Council of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) said that Nigeria wad to explore how Korean players can enable and synergise with deeper trade integration in Africa.
“The summit would build a complementary partnership for the 21st century through its technological leadership across a wide array of sectors from agriculture, mining and renewable energy to manufacturing and digitisation.
“It would attract leading voices and decision makers from the African and Korean policy, business and investment communities,’’ he said.
According to him, the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) reached major ratification milestones in 2023.
“It was on the back of unprecedented political momentum for closer regional integration to see the emergence of Africa as a global growth hub representing a quarter of the world’s population and a 16.5 trillion dollar market by 2050.
“Two moderated panel and networking sessions will take place to explore the drivers and stumbling blocks to this formidable growth trajectory, teasing out risks and opportunities to Africa’s trade partners with a focus on Korea,’’ he said.
Udeagbala said that the summit to be hosted by the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Korea-Africa Foundation, in partnership with the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs would have Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General, AfCFTA as speaker.
“Other speakers are Sim Tshabalala, CEO, Standard Bank, Choi Kyong-lim, Former Chair of WTO Council for Trade in Goods.
“Seo Sang-hyeon, Senior Economist, POSCO Research Institute, Sohn Jie-Ae, CNN Correspondent in Seoul as session moderator,’’ he said.
