7th TICAD: Advancing Africa’s Development Through People, Technology And Innovation

Convened on August 28 in Yokohama under the theme “Making breakthroughs in Africa! People, technology and innovation,” a wide array of national leaders participated in the Seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD7).

Attendees included Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan and leaders from 53 African countries, leading to the adoption of the “Yokohama Declaration” on August 30.

The Yokohama Declaration of 2019 set forth support for Africa’s comprehensive and sustainable development, following the three pillars below:

(1) Economy: Accelerating the economic transformation and improving the business environment through innovation and private sector engagement

(2) Society: Deepening sustainable and resilient society

(3) Peace and Stability: Strengthening peace and stability

As Japan’s implementing agency for official development assistance, JICA announced that it will contribute to the following areas as part of Japan’s initiatives:

(1) Develop human resources to improve industries: ABE Initiative 3.0, Kaizen Initiative, supporting women business entrepreneurs

(2) Promote innovation and investment: improve the investment environment with the African Development Bank, promote Japanese SMEs and SDGs businesses in Africa, and encourage private sector investment finance for African countries.

(3) Promote Universal Health Care (UHC) and Africa Health and Wellbeing Initiative: improve hygiene and primary health care access, improve children’s nutrition of children through the “Initiative for Food and Nutrition Security in Africa” (IFNA)

(4) Establish stable and reliable institutions and enhance governance: develop human resources in the judicial, policing, security sectors among others.

In addition, JICA President Shinichi Kitaoka had a bilateral meeting with President Nana Akufo-Addo. They exchanged the opinions on a variety of topics, such as Ghana Beyond Aid and importance of human capital, the expectation of investment by Japanese private sector, Regional Development of West Africa through Infrastructure development, and so on.

Building on exchanges with representatives from Africa, international organizations and other development partners, JICA will continue to maintain open dialogue and contribute as a trustful partner for Africa’s development.