TICAD

• (1) Prime Minister Kishida, in his opening speech, expressed his intention, as “a partner growing together with Africa”, to promote African development with approaches quintessentially Japanese, focusing on "people" and to realize a resilient Africa that Africa itself aims to achieve through a virtuous cycle of growth and distribution. He stated that Japan is going to invest US$ 30 billion as the sum of public and private financial contribution over the next three years, with an emphasis on "investment in people" and "quality of growth," and that this investment will help the progress of Japan-Africa relations. Concretely, he announced that Japan will launch the "Japan’s Green Growth Initiative with Africa" and provide US$4 billion in public and private financial contribution in total and promote investment and provide co-financing of up to US$ 5 billion together with African Development Bank, including a new special loan of up to US$ 1 billion for the purpose of advancing reforms that result in sound debt management, helping a resilient Africa and improving the lives of African people. In addition, Prime Minister Kishida expressed that Japan would contribute up to US$ 1.08 billion to the Global Fund over the next three years to support measures against the three major infectious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, and to strengthen health systems, work to cultivate more than 300,000 professionals who support the future of Africa and Japan and work with African countries towards a world without nuclear weapons. He stated that Russia's aggression against Ukraine shakes the very foundations of the international order and ongoing aggression has made the food crisis in Africa more serious than ever. He announced that Japan will provide US$300 million to bolster food production through co-financing with the African Development Bank and assist with capacity building for 200,000 people in the agriculture sector.
• (2) As a co-chair, H.E. Mr. Kais Saied, President of the Republic of Tunisia (host country), expressed his willingness to work with Japan to solve various issues arising from unstable situation around the world. H.E. Mr. Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Senegal (AU President), another co-chair, expressed his appreciation to Japan’s contribution to Africa’s development including in the health sector and hope to work toward further promotion of private sector investment.

• (1) At the beginning of Plenary 1, a video message by Prime Minister Kishida was delivered. In the message, he stated that Africa is a continent of potential, even though African economies and societies have been significantly affected by COVID-19 and the situation in Ukraine and that what we should emphasize is the promotion of private investment and he welcomes a plan by the Japanese business community to create an investment fund worth over 10 billion yen to be used for startups. He said that if we are to improve people's lives, it is important to secure transparent and fair development finance and, under the Enhanced Private Sector Assistance (EPSA), a collaborative framework with the African Development Bank, Japan will establish a special window of up to US$1 billion. Regarding the promotion of green economy, Japan is going to invest in Africa, striking a balance between growth on one hand and consideration for the environment on the other, as we keep our sights set on the future of Africa. Finally, Prime Minister Kishida announced that, as a result of Russian aggression against Ukraine, the prices of food, fertilizer, and energy have soared and the lives of African people are under threat and thus Japan is going to provide co-financing of up to US$300 million in cooperation through the African Emergency Food Production Facility of the African Development Bank while also developing human resources by cultivating the skills of 200,000 people in the agricultural field in order to strengthen mid- and long-term food production capacities.
• (2) During the plenary 1, which focused on the economy, business representatives from Japan and Africa delivered their speeches. Private sector has become official partners since TICAD 7. Many speakers expressed their expectation for the investment in startups and further business activities in Africa by Japanese companies, while discussing to help African economies make progress through investment so that African people, especially young people, can actively work in Africa, where dynamic growth is expected supported by a young population.

［Reference］Attachment
　Opening Speech by Mr. KISHIDA Fumio, Prime Minister of Japan (English(PDF))