Established in 1959 by the order of Kim Il-sung, Mansudae Art Studio plays a central role in enhancing North Korea’s national image by producing statues and portraits of the Dear Leader. The Mansudae Overseas Projects is an international commercial division of the studio. Starting with erecting the Tiglachin Monument in Ethiopia in 1974 without charging any cost, it constructed public buildings and monuments in a number of African countries such as Madagascar, Togo, Guinea and Ethiopia, all without asking for the cost of production. In 2010, Mansudae Overseas Projects received new attention when the African Renaissance was revealed in Dakar, the capital city of Senegal.
 
It was a gigantic bronze statue to herald a new era of the continent. The North Korean-made buildings and monuments in African countries are public buildings and monuments related to the history of their respective countries. However, they are the only places for South Koreans to see North Korean large-scale monuments in reality, since South Koreans are not allowed to visit the North due to division of the two Koreas. The monuments and buildings in African countries actually display more of North Korean socialist realism than African qualities. Strongly presenting the “Juche Art” of North Korea, the buildings and monuments can be deemed as North Korea represented through Africa. [CHE Onejoon]