Africa

TICAD stands for Tokyo International Conference on African Development. The Government of Japan has been leading this conference since 1993, co-organized by United Nations, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), World Bank and African Union Commission (AUC).

The uniqueness of TICAD is as follows.

When the Cold War ended, developed countries’ interest in providing assistance to Africa began to wane. Under such circumstance, it was Japan that argued for the importance of Africa, and TICAD was the proof of Japan taking action. Nowadays, there are various fora through which many countries engage themselves with Africa, but TICAD launched by Japan was the forerunner of such fora for African development.

TICAD is a multilateral forum whose participants include not only African countries but also international organizations, partner countries, private companies and civil society organizations involved in development. The participants have been engaged in fruitful discussions on African development, bringing together a broad range of global knowhow and efforts of the international community. TICAD provides an open forum that generates innovative discussion, among various stakeholders, on African development.

TICAD has advocated the importance of African ownership and international partnership. Today, the development philosophy based on these two principles is shared globally. It has also inspired African countries. Japan will continue to support Africa's own development agenda, Agenda 2063, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aimed at solving global challenges.