Tanzania, South Korea startups ink partnership deal

The agreement was signed in South Korea and witnessed by Tanzanian ambassador Mr Togolani Mavura, the association said in a statement emailed yesterday.

TSA chief executive officer Zahoro Muhaji, said the agreement aims at formulating and strengthening synergies, strategies, and programmes with a focus on propagating investment opportunities and the development of startups in the two countries.

“This kind of collaboration with the KSF will pave the way to foreign direct investment, technological and knowledge transfer, and create a space for Tanzanian startups to learn, grow, and find market opportunities for their products and services in South Korea,” said Mr Muhaji.

Mr Mavura noted that the MoU is an impetus for bringing business to Tanzania through the official development aid (ODA) propagated by the Korean government to Tanzania.

“Tanzania and Korea have had good relations for 30 years, and Tanzania is a strategic country for Korea. The signing of the MoU is a good start in bringing business to Tanzania through the ODA,” the envoy said.

In 2020, Tanzania exported goods valued at $45.8 million (Sh103.3 billion) to South Korea. The main products exported from Tanzania were raw copper (51 percent), followed by raw tobacco (37.1 percent) and coffee product worth $7.68 billion.

During the last 25 years, the exports of Tanzania to South Korea have increased at an annual rate of 13.4 percent, from $1.96 million (Sh4.51 billion) in 1995 to $45.8 million in 2020.