Japan pledges $32b to Africa

President Paul Kagame yesterday met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the second day of the Fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (Ticad), after the premier announced a 3.2 trillion yen (about $32 billion) assistance package to Africa. The funds will be allocated to boost economic growth through private sector development, and trade and investment. Other spheres include accelerating infrastructure and capacity development, empowering farmers as mainstream economic actors, promoting sustainable and resilient growth and creating an inclusive society for growth (through education, gender, health, water and sanitation). Abe hailed Rwanda’s progress in line with development and human security and pledged to work with the Rwandan government in several initiatives on the continent. “I would like to pay tribute to your country that under your leadership Rwanda has achieved true reconciliation as well as improvement in the quality of living among your people and also the development of the entire country. I certainly look forward to working with you to achieve mutual development for Japan and Africa,” said Abe during his meeting with President Kagame. Infrastructure In addition to the increased aid, Japan committed 650 billion yen (about $6.5 billion) to infrastructure investment over the next five years, which Abe said would be allocated to developing the infrastructure that “Africa itself deems necessary and plans itself.” He said the infrastructure investment would focus on expediting development of international corridors that link inland areas with the coasts, and power grids. Announcing the Africa Business Education (Abe) Initiative for the youth as part of human resource development, the premier said Japan would help Africa train 30,000 business-savvy individuals. “We will offer undergraduate and graduate education to young people from Africa who come to study in Japan, and in addition we will simultaneously provide them opportunities to work as interns at Japanese companies. This will be at a scale of 1,000 students over five years,” Abe said. Expressing optimism that Africa’s “promising” young people would soon play leading roles in businesses that connect Japan and the continent, Abe said it was necessary to cultivate human resource that truly match labour market demand, adding that haphazardly enhancing vocational training would not lead to jobs. Creating jobs While advocating for what he called “education with an exit,” the premier said his country would foster human resource needed by companies in Africa, particularly Japanese enterprises. The Japanese leader also canvassed for what he called a “true partnership with Africa” that involves “thinking together and working together,” adding that Japan and Africa had gone beyond being good partners to being more like co-managers. “We’re colleagues and at the same time co-workers. We grow together through mutual interactions, and through this, we’ve become partners that will develop the world,” he said. Ticad, an initiative of Japan, is the largest policy dialogue on Africa outside the African continent. It is co-organised by Japan, the African Union Commission, UN, World Bank, and the UN Development Programme. Ticad, which kicked off on Saturday, has 39 African Heads of State and governments, and several development partners in attendance.

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Japan pledges $32b to Africa