By Julian Osamoto
A non-profit Think Tank Centre for the Study of the Economics of Africa, CSEA, has urged Nigeria and South Korea to turn their longstanding relationship into practical economic cooperation that delivers investment, technology transfer and industrial development.
CSEA Executive Director, Dr Chukwuka Onyekwena, made the call in Abuja at the Nigeria Economic Diplomacy Discourse, organised in partnership with the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Nigeria.
Onyekwena said stronger bilateral relations should produce concrete outcomes in trade, investment, industrial cooperation and technology transfer.
He said Nigeria could draw lessons from South Korea’s development experience while developing policies that reflect its own economic structure, institutions and history.
According to him, Nigeria needs predictable regulations, efficient institutions, better market access and effective fiscal and regulatory frameworks to attract and retain investment.
He identified trade facilitation, foreign exchange processes, customs efficiency, investment incentives and the legal framework for taxation as areas requiring attention.
The Director-General of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council, PEBEC, Princess Zahrah Audu, said Nigeria wanted Korean investment to go beyond capital inflows to include technology transfer, skills development and the growth of local value chains such as electric vehicle and solar equipment manufacturing.
According to her Nigeria’s large market, natural resources and strategic position in Africa could complement South Korea’s strengths in manufacturing, technology, infrastructure and global value chains.
Meanwhile, the Korean Ambassador to Nigeria, Jeong Yo-an, identified manufacturing, digital technology, energy, agriculture and healthcare as areas with opportunities for deeper collaboration.
Yo-an said this cooperation should focus more on production, processing, assembly, training and technology transfer rather than simply increasing the sales of finished products.
He said the success of the partnership should be measured by new investments, local production, skills development and job creation.
CSEA Director of Research, Dr Adedeji Adeniran, believed that Nigeria could draw lessons from South Korea’s emphasis on human capital, export development and private-sector participation.
He however called for stronger technical exchanges, capacity development and increased trade between both countries, while stressing that Nigeria also needed to develop its own path to economic transformation.
The discourse brought together Nigerian and Korean officials, policy experts and private-sector stakeholders to examine practical frameworks for strengthening trade, investment as well as fiscal cooperation between the two countries.
