Africa’s recent remarkable economic performance has shed light on a new optimism about the continents development prospects and expresses a shift in Africa’s position as a new engine, or an emerging pole, of growth in the world. However, despite the remarkable economic performance, Africas growth acceleration has not been sufficiently reconciled with transformation for “shared prosperity.” As a result, economic transformation has emerged as the central theme of the AfDB(Africa Development Bank)s policy agenda.
Korea once faced similar conditions to those that Africa faces today. In the early 1960s, Korea was among the poorest nations in the world with a per capita income lower than that of Ethiopia and much lesser than that of Ghana. However, in a short period of time Korea has successfully transformed itself from a poor agrarian society to a manufacturing powerhouse and is currently about to undergo another economic transformation to address the emerging problems of the country. This economic transformation is being set forth by the current Korean government as a new vision of a “creative economy.” As such, Korea’s developmental history and economic transformation suggests that there may be some invaluable assistance and lessons that can be shared with African countries.