The first Korea-Africa foreign ministers' meeting independently hosted by the Korean government will be held in Seoul on Aug. 1. Korea and African countries are expected to use the meeting to discuss ways to expand economic and supply chain cooperation and to jointly respond to global issues.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 26th, the "2026 Korea-Africa Foreign Ministers' Meeting" and the "Korea-Africa Business Forum" will be held at Lotte Hotel Seoul in Jung District, Seoul, from July 31 to Aug. 2.
Heads of international organizations, including delegations from 52 African countries and the African Union (AU), the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (AU CDC), will attend the foreign ministers' meeting.
The meeting will be held under the theme "Korea-Africa partnership for joint responses in a time of global transition." Presided over by Minister Cho Hyun of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, participants will discuss economic cooperation, sustainable growth, and responses to global challenges, and they plan to adopt a joint statement.
At the Korea-Africa Business Forum on Aug. 2, businesspeople from Korea and Africa and government officials will attend. Sung Kim, president of Hyundai Motor Group, and Wamkele Mene, secretary-general of AfCFTA, will deliver keynote speeches.
With the importance of critical mineral and energy supply chains growing recently, the government plans to expand cooperation with Africa. Africa is considered a region rich in key mineral resources such as cobalt, manganese, chromium, and the platinum group metals.
In particular, as tensions in the Middle East rise amid U.S.-Iran conflict, African oil producers such as Nigeria, Libya, and Angola are becoming more important for Korea in diversifying its crude oil supply chain. With concerns over a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz continuing, the strategic value of alternative maritime transport routes, such as the detour via the Cape of Good Hope, is also coming to the fore.