From August 24 to 25, 2024, Japan hosted the ministerial proceedings of TICAD (Tokyo International Conference on African Development). This diplomatic forum aims to promote economic dialogue, private sector investment and partnerships with the continent’s countries. Initiated in 1993 by the Japanese government in partnership with international institutions such as the United Nations, the World Bank and the African Union, this platform has become a reference point for international cooperation in Africa.
More than 20 African countries took part at the highest ministerial level in TICAD 2024 in Japan, with the shared aim of accelerating the initiatives put in place since the launch of TICAD in order to enhance the value of 30 years of partnership at TICAD 9 which will be held in Yokohama in 2025. Among Japan’s achievements in this TICAD is the construction of a bridge over the Nile in South Sudan, which JICA helped to build shortly after the country’s independence in 2012. The project lasted ten years and was interrupted three times due to armed conflict and the COVID-19 pandemic. The establishment of the Coalition for African Rice Development , announced at TICAD 4 in 2008, to meet the challenges of population growth,. helped to double rice production over the following ten years.
« Africa is a continent with a population of over a billion, and therefore a huge market for Japanese foreign trade. And it’s a continent teeming with the raw materials that the Japanese industry needs. And, for 30 years, it’s been a win-win partnership, all the more so as Japan has found both the raw materials and the outlets, and Africa has found a partner who doesn’t interfere in the security and political problems of young African states with power management problems. «
Kerwin MAYIZO, Political analyst – DR Congo
An attractive international platform, the preparations for the ministerial meeting in Tokyo were marked by a sequence that went viral. The fraudulent introduction by Algeria, under cover of its delegation, of a Polisario representative who was neither recognized nor invited by Japan. This attitude justified a forceful intervention by Morocco and an unequivocal condemnation by Japan of this fraudulent intrusion by an organization not recognized or invited by Japan and its partner organizations.
« Japan couldn’t invite the Saharawis at the risk of falling out with one of Africa’s major states, Morocco. So Algeria took advantage of the opportunity to make a media splash, to highlight the Polisario issue, but above all to irritate Morocco, with whom it has very tense relations precisely in relation to these issues. «
Kerwin MAYIZO, Political analyst – DR Congo
For Japan, a constructive and pragmatic approach with each country on the continent is essential to secure its presence in this market. Africa’s population growth projections guide Japan’s strategic vision for Africa. The continent has around 1.4 billion people, as many as India and China, and will grow to 2.5 billion by 2050, becoming a huge market and a dynamic growth engine for the global economy.