The amount of time away from the blog was a bit longer than expected as internet access turned out to be either non-existent or more than I was willing to pay. As you might guess by the title of this post, I was in Africa. While the trip was not related to Korea, I of course kept my eyes open for any Koreans in the area.

While Korean products (especially TVs, air conditioners, and a few thermostats, etc. – but not vehicles) were evident, Koreans were not, although about 25,000 are reportedly living there. Of the several countries visited in east Africa, I saw only one store utilizing Korean – a jewelry/souvenir shop at the Nairobi, Kenya airport, where I was in transit. I talked to the local in the shop who said the store was owned by Koreans. She didn’t say and I didn’t ask how she felt about that.

Later in the week, again in transit in Nairobi, I saw three South Korean business men who were on the same flight to Dar es Salaam. I didn’t speak to them, and relative to some of the other passengers, they were model customers.

To tell the truth, I was a bit surprised at the lack of Koreans in east Africa, especially since cellular technology is a rapidly growing field that South Koreans could take full advantage of. Or maybe the payoff down the road is not expected to be large enough compared other world markets. I also realize that just because I didn’t see more Koreans that they may still be there, although extensive Googling turned up little more than a handful of missionaries, some ivory trade, a little involvement in Kenya, and a good amount in South Africa. Some other countries are trying to get Korea involved.

The Chinese, however, are there. I saw Chinese and their businesses in several cities, and met an engineer who said his company was involved in over a dozen damn projects, mostly in the Congo and Ghana.