What can Africa learn from South Korea?

FILE PHOTO: A worker works at an assembly line of Hyundai Motor’s plant in Asan, South Korea, January 27, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File Photo
Industrialise, industrialise, industrialise
Heavy public investment in infrastructure and industry is currently a key priority for most governments on the continent. African sovereigns are briskly unlocking capital to suit these ends, for example through the sale of eurobonds, with much of the proceeds tied to infrastructure projects.
This industrialisation drive becomes even more obvious when scrutinising countries’ budget allocations. Nigeria, for example, has this year allocated more funds to power, works and housing than the total combined for health, education and the interior. Kenya’s allocation to energy, infrastructure and ICT last year dwarfed health, national security and environment protection.
This push is inspired by Europe and North America’s leap to greater prosperity through the first wave of industrialisation; but perhaps more significantly, it is also shaped by the recent examples of Asian countries rapidly lifting millions out of poverty through light manufacturing and heavy industrialisation. Indeed, the parallels between Africa and these Asian countries in the 1960s make for sobering reading. At the time of its independence in 1957 Ghana had almost the same GDP per capita as South Korea, at around $490, but by 1990 South Korea’s per capita income was 10 times greater than Ghana’s. Given the base similarities many African countries are now looking to emulate their Asian counterparts.
Lessons from South Korea
One of the continent’s most explicit endorsements of the South Korean model was the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) recent annual meeting held in Busan, South Korea’s economic capital. The intention was clear: to learn from what is now the world’s 11th largest economy.more-> AB