The Seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 7) will be held from August 28-30, 2019 in Yokohama, Japan, under the theme "Advancing Africa's Development through People, Technology and Innovation"
It is expected that this summit will witness a distinguished African representation. About 40 African countries will take part in this event including: Egypt, Cameron, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Chad, South Africa, Algeria and others.
TICAD is considered one of the most important summits and gatherings that contribute to the development of the African continent.
It plays a major role in facilitating and promoting high-level political dialogue between African leaders and development partners on issues related to economic growth, trade and investment, sustainable development, human security, peace and stability.
The History of TICAD Summit
TICAD was held for the 1st time in Tokyo in 1993 as a result of a Japanese initiative.
It aims at enhancing dialogue between African- Japanese leaders, promoting Africa’s development, peace and security, strengthening relations between the countries, and establishing strong partnerships between Japan and the black continent.
The international summit which has been held regularly since then is not just led by Japan, yet several international partners shared the organization of TICAD along with the Japanese government including: the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the African Union Commission (AUC) and the World Bank (WB).
Formerly held every 5 years, TICAD meetings have been shortened to 3 years. Japan’s contributions to Africa primarily focus on development assistance as well as poverty alleviation and the scope of its cooperation gradually expanded to include many sectors such as education, health, community development, infrastructure investment or the effects of climate change.
Egypt key role in TICAD 7
Egypt will play a significant role in TICAD 7 in the light of its current presidency of the African Union (AU), according to Japanese Ambassador to Cairo, Masaki Noke.
As part of the preparations for TICAD7, Egypt’s Foreign Affairs Minister Sameh Shoukry met his Japanese counterpart Taro Kono on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference (MSC) held last February, .
The meeting tackled coordination for both of TICAD and G20 summits.
In addition, a high-level Egyptian delegation visited Tokyo last month to discuss with the Japanese side the latest preparations ahead of the summit.
The Egyptian delegation was headed by Ambassador Khaled Amara, Assistant Foreign Minister for African organizations affairs, and Osama Abdel Khalek, Egypt's Ambassador to Addis Ababa and its permanent representative to the AU.
Topics to be discussed during TICAD 7
TICAD 7 summit session will focus on various key issues including:
1-Economic transformation
2-Improving the business environment especially through the involvement of the private sector
3- Building a sustainable society for human security
4-Achieving peace and stability
In addition, a number of bilateral agreements between Japan and African countries will be signed during the conference.
Follow the latest news on Google News
