Japan takes aid show to Africa with huge meeting
Japan takes aid show to Africa in China's shadow. Photo: Business Times
What you need to know:
Tokyo has a well-established presence in Africa, but its financial importance to the continent has long-since been eclipsed by regional rival China
Tokyo. Japan takes its aid show to Africa this weekend, with a huge development conference in Kenya, hoping quality will trump quantity in the battle for influence against cash-rich China.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe -- fresh from an appearance as Super Mario at the Olympic Games in Rio -- will meet with dozens of leaders from across Africa in Nairobi.
Officials say the Japanese premier will use the two-day gathering to unveil aid and investment projects, including those related to healthcare. Tokyo has a well-established presence in Africa, but its financial importance to the continent has long-since been eclipsed by regional rival China.
Resource-hungry giant
The world’s second-largest economy -- a resource-hungry giant -- recorded total trade with Africa of about $179 billion in 2015, dwarfing Japan’s approximately $24 billion.
“Japan has a sense of rivalry with China, which has provided large-sized assistance,” said Koichi Sakamoto, professor of regional development studies at Toyo University. “Since Japan can’t fight China in terms of amounts of cash, it needs to stress quality,” Sakamoto added. This weekend’s meeting, which will be attended by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and South Africa’s Jacob Zuma, amongst others, is the sixth edition of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development, or TICAD.
The forum was first convened in 1993 and, until now, has always been held in Japan. The move to Africa this year came at the behest of the host continent. (AFP)
