Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja
South Korea has initiated a start up idea contest programme to enable collaboration between Nigerian technological start-ups and Korean young business people.
The President of Korea Africa Foundation (KAF) Lyeo Woon-Ki disclosed this during a recent tour of Nigeria.
Lyeo, a former Korean Ambassador to Ghana, said that many Nigerian start ups have applied for the technology based programmes.
He added that the Korean government has also selected a Nigerian company, CC Hub to enable it navigate the difficulty of selecting the suitable Nigerian and African start ups as well as assist in their incubation process.
Lyeo also disclosed that Korea will also provide some form of funding and consultation for CC Hub until they groom some companies.
“Besides this start up idea contest, we also have a new process in creating new unicorn promising companies in Nigeria. The first collaborating event is on the way now. We are also trying to encourage Korean Unicorns to come to Africa, “Lyeo said.
The envoy, who, while in Africa, visited Nigeria, South Africa and Ghana to promote KAF, stressed the need for cooperation with Nigeria, which he described as a very important country.
He also regretted that most Korean people do not have good impression of Nigeria, which they erroneously believe is a very difficult and hard place to live.
“But they have not visited Nigeria and have not met Nigerian people. But once they meet real Nigerians and visit the country they will begin to have a change of impression. This visit is very important and during my visit I have realized that Nigeria is a very important country and there is need for us cooperate with each others,” Lyeo said.
Also the Ambassador of Republic of Korea to Nigeria, Kim Young-chae, said the embassy hosted a youth programme in Lagos last year that featured some Nigerian start ups.
Kim added that while in Nigerian commercial city, the business minds paid working visits to some notable Korean companies like Samsung Electronics, LG and some shipping companies where they observed their working processes.
