Summary:

On 4 and 5 June 2024, Tunisian Prime Minister Ahmed Hachani conducted an official visit to the inaugural session of the Korea-Africa Summit hosted in Seoul.  

During the Summit, Korea announced 10 billion US dollars in Official Development Assistance (ODA) and 14 billion US dollars in export financing to Africa by 2030. 

PM Hachani seized this opportunity to highlight Tunisia’s desire to become a hub for cooperation with other African countries. He further highlighted the benefits of Tunisia’s geographic location and improving infrastructure that could serve Korean companies. 

PM Hachani’s speech focused on Tunisia’s role in developing the African continent’s potential to play a role in global supply chains for high-technology firms, stating Tunisia’s aim to transform its economy into high-value-add sectors following the South Korean model. 

Tunisia and Korea then signed a Memorandum of Understanding to develop digitalization in health, transport, and education sectors and to reinforce Tunisia’s networks with 5G technology.  

PM Hachani also echoed recent statements from other senior Tunisian officials, calling for a review of the global financial system to help African countries suffering from high debt rates and the establishment of durable development paths based on zero-carbon energy.

Outlook: 

The participation of the Tunisian Prime Minister in the Korea-Africa Summit shows the importance Tunisia puts on multilateral meetings to attract foreign direct investment and to emphasize its potential role in African development.  

Tunisia is seeking to profit from Korea’s plans to invest in the continent of Africa, and it aspires to benefit from Korean technology and expertise to develop a digital infrastructure favorable to the development of the services sector. 

As the Summit resulted in South Korean and African leaders agreeing on launching a “Critical Minerals Dialogue,” Tunisia could seize the opportunity to expand its phosphate exports and play a role in the supply-chain of minerals on which Korean industry depends. 

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