JAPAN will leverage on its cutting-edge technology and expertise to drive growth in Africa, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has said, solidifying a 32-year-old partnership.
The pledge made by Ishiba yesterday comes as the 9th edition of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9) begins today in Yokohama.
TICAD 9 runs from August 20 to 22 under the theme Co-create Innovative Solutions with Africa, which underscores Japan’s commitment to exploring innovative solutions to the challenges facing the continent.
According to Ishiba, it is mutually beneficial to combine homegrown solutions developed in Africa with solutions presented by Japan.
He said TICAD 9 would present solutions to the challenges facing the continent, including poverty, unemployment, conflict, infectious diseases and climate change.
According to Ishiba, TICAD will present solutions by focusing on three cross-cutting issues — driving sustainable economic growth through private sector-led leadership; empowering youth and women; and strengthening regional integration and connectivity.
“Japan will accelerate Africa’s economic transformation by fostering private sector investment,” he said.
“This includes improving the investment environment and leveraging on cutting-edge technologies in such areas as artificial intelligence, digitalisation, green transformation and utilisation of satellite data.”
This, Ishiba said, would create new economic opportunities and enhance impact.
He said Africa’s future rested on the “shoulders of its young people and women”, emphasising Japan’s commitment to empowering the segments through “comprehensive human resources development programmes” and targeting skills development in high-growth sectors.
Ishiba said regional integration was key for Africa’s growth, with Japan pledging to support the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area through facilitating cross-border trade and investment and building value chains.
He said TICAD 9 was more than a conference — it’s a “vibrant and living platform for forging deeper partnerships, generating innovative solutions and building a shared vision for a prosperous and sustainable future for Africa and the world”.
TICAD was launched in 1993 and is Japan’s flagship in promoting Africa’s development, peace and security, through strengthening multilateral co-operation and partnerships.
It was the first partnership entered into between a non-African country and the continent.
This has triggered a stampede as superpowers seek to deepen ties with the continent endowed with primary resources they require for their growing industries.
Turkey, China, South Korea, Russia and the United States, among others, have deepened engagements with African countries, holding summits to strengthen ties.
TICAD 9 comes at a time when Japan has ticked most of the boxes on its pledges to Africa. One of the world’s leading official development assistance executing agencies, Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA), is driving Japan’s co-operation with Africa.
At TICAD 8 in 2022, Japan pledged up to US$5 billion in support for the private sector through co-financing with the African Development Bank.
Projects worth US$2,9 billion had been approved as of March this year, with the Asian giant undertaking to fulfil the commitment, according to JICA.
At TICAD 8, Japan pledged to support local businesses, including 360 start-ups, through the Next Innovation with Japan (Ninja) project. To date, the Ninja programme has supported 759 local businesses in Africa.
