Japan will reaffirm in the coming days its interest to strengthen its strategic partnership with African countries by hosting the 7th Tokyo International Conference for the Development of Africa (TICAD7) on 28-30 August.
Cooperation relations between Japanese and Africans date back to the 1950s, but only gained dynamism and intensity in the last 26 years, with the institutionalization of TICAD, an event that has allowed the Japanese approach to the “cradle continent”.
With this forum, Japan aims to help sustain the economic growth of all the countries with which it has relations, focusing on building quality infrastructure and training human resources.
It was with this in mind that during TICAD 6th held in 2016, in Kenya, Japan announced an investment of about USD 30 billion in three years (2016-2018) in public-private projects to secure a sustainable future for Africa.
By way of illustration, Japan currently supports in Africa, under TICAD, the construction of agricultural infrastructure and projects in Angola, Senegal, Kenya, South Africa, Mozambique, Cabo Verde, Rwanda and Madagascar.
This support represents a stimulus for the development of the African continent which, according to data from the African Development Bank (ADB), has doubled its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the last ten years, with an average annual growth of 5 per cent.
Japan has invested 23.3 billion yen (USD 221.2 million) in human resources training, including vocational training for more than 16,000 people in various African countries since 2016.
The “Asian giant” has invested another 152.6 billion yen ($ 1.4 billion) in humanitarian development support in the Sahel region since 2013.
In Angola, Japan is involved in the rehabilitation and expansion project of Namibe Commercial Port and Saco-Mar mining terminal, which will allow the country to export iron, ore from Jamba Mineira, Huila province. It is also present in the telecommunications sector. In March 2016, it secured financing for Angola Cables SA through the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), based on the acquisition of equipment and services from Japanese companies (NEC, OCC).
This served for the implementation of the South Atlantic optical submarine cable installation project.
Another sector with a notorious presence of the Japanese is the textile sector, which financed US $ 1 billion in the rehabilitation of the three industries in Angola, namely Satec, in the province of Cuanza Nortes, Textang II, in Luanda, and Alassola, in Benguela.
In addition to these sectors, the Nipponese also actively participate in the demining process, support projects in agriculture, vocational training and health, such as the rehabilitation of Josina Machel Hospital in Luanda.
In Senegal, Japan supports an agricultural rice production project developed on the banks of the Senegal River in Podor.
The project focuses on technology transfer and training of local producers, all for the sake of good performance and long-term beneficiary autonomy.
In South Africa, more specifically in the mining sector, Japan’s National Oil, Gas and Metals Corporation (JOGMEC) has been conducting, since 2009, the joint platinum group metal exploration project in South Africa.
In Kenya, it has built a fertilizer and other power generation plant, mainly geothermal energy. Most of the power generation plants in this East African country have been awarded the Japan contest.
Also within the framework of the strategic partnership with Africa, the railway and port infrastructure project in the Nacala corridor is underway in Mozambique.
In Madagascar, Japan is supporting a large-scale rice production project, and today the country has an annual production of four million tons.
Based on Japanese support, Rwanda is experiencing a revolution in the information and communication technologies sector and trains thousands of young people in this field. Kenya signed the Bilateral Investment Agreement (ILO) in August 2016. At present, Japan is negotiating with countries such as Algeria, Angola, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Morocco, Tanzania and Zambia for the signature of the ILO in order to protect and promote investment.
In April 2017, Japan sent a public-private business delegation to Kenya, where 65 companies, including Japanese, visited the planned development area of Mombasa Port and Mombasa Special Economic Zone.
In addition, in May 2017 Japan sent the 10th public-private delegation to promote trade and investment in Africa, specifically to Morocco and Nigeria having gathered with several private companies.
