Hyundai Motor to provide Genesis sedans for S. Korea-Africa summit

Seoul, March 22 (IANS) Hyundai Motor Group said on Friday it will provide the luxury Genesis brand's G90 and G80 sedans during the South Korea-Africa Summit due in Seoul in June.

The South Korean carmaker will sponsor the first Korea-Africa summit scheduled on June 4-5 by offering 77 G90 flagship sedans and 42 G80s as official vehicles during the summit period, Hyundai said in a statement.

Some 10,000 officials and business leaders from the African region and international organisations are expected to attend meetings to be held on the sidelines of the summit, reports Yonhap news agency.

Since the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area in 2021, Africa has emerged as a major single economic bloc with a combined gross domestic product worth $3 trillion.

The region is regarded as having huge growth potential as its overall population is projected to grow to 1.7 billion by 2035.

For carmakers, Africa is a strategically important as the region has an ample reserve of nickel, cobalt, lithium, mangan and graphite, which are key materials needed to produce car batteries, the statement said.