* South Korea once poorer than many African countries
* Its development could serve as model for continent
* Battling Asian rivals for African resources
By Tosin Sulaiman and Jon Herskovitz
JOHANNESBURG, Oct 19 (Reuters) – African leaders have been
making pilgrimages to Beijing for years seeking Chinese wisdom
on expanding their emerging economies — but they may do better
by dropping in on Seoul.
With a similar population size to a number of African states
and tales of damaging wars and colonial exploitation, South
Korea’s growth as a democratic economic power is arguably better
suited to the continent than that of China, a single country
with more people than in all of Africa.
In its biggest meeting yet with African leaders this week,
South Korea pledged $590 million in aid and loans, but also
offered what it said no other advanced economy could provide:
its experience of development.
The contrasting fortunes of South Korea and many African
countries since the 1950s illustrate why leaders on the
resource-rich continent are looking to emulate Asia’s fourth
largest economy whose heavy investment in education and
infrastructure development helped kickstart growth.
But some parts of the South Korean model may be difficult to
copy. Africa is reliant on exports of primary commodities,
whereas South Korea built its economy on exporting manufactured
goods. In Africa, manufacturing accounts for the same proportion
of GDP as in the 1970s.
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