JAPAN COMMITS MORE INVESTMENTS TO AFRICAN COUNTRIESS AFTER TICAD 7 IN YOKOHAMA
In most African countries around the globe presently state run and private media agencies are all talking about the TICAD 7. Well what does TICAD stand for, what is it’s objective and what have Africans to gain from it.
The Tokyo International Conference on Africa Development is an international conference led by the Japanese government and co-sponsored by the United Nations, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the African Union Commission (AUC) and the World Bank. This year’s edition is being held in Yokahama Japan like previous editions of 2008 and 2013. This one of the largest international conference held in Japan with the 5 edition having more than 4,500 participants from head of states and government, representatives of international and regional organizations, civil societies, NGOs and private sector.
African leaders present at this year conference include
- Faustin Archange Touadera, Central African Republic
- Azali Assoumani, Comoros
- Danny Faure, Seychelles
- Alpha Conde, Guinea
- Patrice Talon, Benin
- Julius Maada Bio, Sierra Leone
- Andry Rajoelina, Madagascar
- Ismail Omar Guelleh, Djibouti
- Joao Lourenco, Angola
- Hage Geingob, Namibia
- George Weah, Liberia
- Felix Tshisekedi, Democratic Republic of Congo
- Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya
- Yoweri Museveni, Uganda
- Abdul Fatten Al-Sisi, Egypt and current African Union president
- Paul Kagame, Rwanda
- Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo, Somalia
- Emmerson Mnangagwa, Zimbabwe
- Faure Gnassingbe, Togo
- Mahamadou Issoufou, Niger
- Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Ghana
- Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria
- Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa
- Ibrahim Boubakar Keita, Mali
- Edgar Lungu, Zambia
- Macky Sall, Senegal
Other leaders representing their countries not wanting to miss out on Japanese investments and deals are headed by
- Thomas Thabane, Lesotho Prime Minister
- Everton Herbert Chimulirenji, Malawi Vice-President
- Isatou Touray, Gambian Vice-President
- Amadou Gon Coulibaly, Prime Minister of Ivory Coast
- Osman Saleh, Foreign Minister if Eritrea
- Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopian Prime Minister
The conference kicked off on Tuesday, August 27 with Ministerial Preparatory Meeting held in Yokohama co-chaired by Mr Taro Kono Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan.
In response, the Co-chair, Sameh Shoukry, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt stated an intention to strengthen partnerships and to aim to achieve AU Agenda 2063 and SDGs through the TICAD7 process, under the theme of TICAD7, “Advancing Africa’s Development through People, Technology and Innovation”.
Thereafter, through the discussion among the ministerial-level participants, they affirmed the contents of ‘Yokohama Declaration 2019’ and ‘Yokohama Plan of Action 2019’, and the two documents will be presented to the leaders to be adopted at the TICAD7 Summit.
In this meeting, the measures expressed during the TICAD process over the past three years were also presented through the ‘TICAD VI Report 2016-2018’.
The government of Japan leads the conference with co-hosts such as the United Nations, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), World Bank and African Union Commission (AUC).
TICAD is a summit-level international conference regarding development of Africa launched by Japan in 1993. TICAD was held every 5 years until TICADV (2013).
The hosting period was shortened to 3 years since TICAD VI (2016), during which it was held for the first time in Africa (Kenya, Nairobi).
Aside the main deliberations by presidents, heads of state and government representatives, there are a number of side events slated for countries to engage in bilateral talks with the host nation and among themselves.
During TICAD 6, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, disclosed that Africa will benefit from a $30 billion investment package by 2018 including a $10 billion investment in infrastructural development.
“When combined with the investment from the private sector, I expect the total real amount to be $30 billion. This is an investment that has faith in Africa’s future,” he said at the time.
For more information regarding TICAD visit the following pages