Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

TICAD7: Abe Vows to Boost Investments in Africa


Wed 28 Aug 2019 | 01:53 PM
NaDa Mustafa

Japanese Prime Minister (PM) Shinzo Abe renewed on Wednesday Tokyo's pledge to boost investments in Africa from the country's private sector in support of the black continent's development.

Addressing the inaugural session of The 7th Tokyo International Conference on African Continent (TICAD7), Abe said that the Japanese government will make utmost effort so that the amount of private investments will surpass (the current pace), which amounted to $20 billion over three years.

"We will take every step to help Japanese companies to invest in Africa," the premier added.

Moreover, he pointed out that the new TICAD is considered a partnership to promote economic and investment relations between Japan and Africa, praising the remarkable progress achieved during the 6th TICAD summit held in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, in 2016.

Moreover, the Japanese PM stressed that Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is implementing a project in the African continent to link local projects with schools and train African youth, pointing out that the Japanese government has promised to provide public health funding for the black continent.

 

”Japan will launch health initiative in Africa next year to transfer Japanese expertise in this field,” he continued.

Abe also pointed out that Japan will continue its human resource development program for Africa, aiming to train 3,000 people over six years, who could contribute to the promotion of business between Japan and Africa.

“As part of the government's efforts to assist Japanese firms' advance into Africa, a business dialogue headed by representatives of the government and companies will be held on the 2nd day of the conference,” he noted.

Noteworthy, A total of $25.6 billion has been invested in the continent from the Japanese private sector since 2016, according to the Foreign Ministry.

TICAD 7 is co-hosted by the Japanese government, the United Nations, the World Bank, the U.N. Development Program and the African Union Commission.