TICAD

On 20 August, Prime Minister ISHIBA proposed the “Economic Region Initiative of Indian Ocean-Africa” at the 9th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9), held in Yokohama. This initiative seeks to promote Africa's regional integration and industrial development in the Indian Ocean-Africa Economic Region, which is expected to serve as a key driver of global economic growth, by fostering collaboration between Japan and countries across the Indian Ocean such as India and Middle Eastern countries.

This initiative is positioned as one of the efforts under the vision of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP). It aims to strengthen Japan’s partnerships with African countries and other countries in the Global South , to support Japanese companies in expanding trade and investment from countries across the Indian Ocean to Africa, and to ensure that the resulting benefits also flow back to Japan.