Section 2 The Second Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD II) and Japanese Aid to Africa

1. The Second Tokyo International Conference on African Development

Many countries in sub-Sahara Africa pursued structural adjustment programs in earnest through the 1980s. However, despite their efforts, by the 1990s most had been left behind by trends in economic globalization. Indeed, since the early 1990s and the end of the Cold War, an array of factors including civil war, ethnic strife, conflicts between African states, terrorism, and massive refugee exoduses have undermined peace and stability in Africa, two fundamentals for developmental progress. As a consequence, conditions of poverty are still widespread. For example, though many countries of the region have demonstrated economic growth in excess of 5 percent per annum, 40 percent of the entire African population must survive on per capita income of less than one dollar a day. Alleviating poverty in Africa and integrating the region itself into the global economy count as major aid challenges for the international community.

Held at Japan's initiative in October 1993, the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) culminated with the Tokyo Declaration, which articulated the all-out commitment of African countries and their development partners to the goals of stability and prosperity Africa-wide. The Second Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD II) convened in Tokyo in October 1998 with the objectives of moving forward with the Tokyo Declaration, putting together a detailed action plan, and posting additional strides in African economic and social development, poverty alleviation, and standards of living.

TICAD II was cosponsored by Japan, the UN (OSCAL and the UNDP), and the Global Coalition for Africa (GCA), and attended by delegates for 80 countries, 40 international organizations, and 22 NGOs (including 15 heads of state and government). It resulted in the adoption of the Tokyo Agenda for Action (formally, African Development towards the 21st Century: the Tokyo Agenda for Action). To achieve the goals of development, poverty alleviation, and improved standards of living, the plan was principled on a shared awareness of the value of helping African countries harness the hidden potential of their citizens (ownership), and having members of the international community participate as equal partners in that enterprise (partnerships). The Tokyo Agenda for Action advocated three approaches to African development: capacity building, gender issues, and the environment. On top of this, it articulates specific strategies for action in three broad fields: (i) social development, with attention to education, health care and population, and other measures to assist the poor, (ii) economic development including industrialization, private-sector development, agricultural development and measures to solve external debt, and (iii) good governance, the prevention of future conflicts and post-conflict efforts in development. The Tokyo Agenda for Action can be described as an effort to apply the views and ideas of the DAC Development Partnership Strategy to the African development setting.

TICAD II drew up an "illustrative list" of more than 370 development programs and projects considered to be consistent with the objectives of the Tokyo Agenda for Action. Japan since then has announced various new assistance programs for Africa in line with it, including ¥90 billion in grant assistance over the next five years in the education, health care, and water supply sectors infrastructure. It is anticipated that this aid will lead to the construction of school facilities for the education of an additional 2 million children throughout Africa, and help at least 15 million citizens improve living conditions. Details are listed in Chart 21.

2. Japanese Aid to Africa in the Wake of TICAD II

Efforts to achieve the goals of the Tokyo Agenda for Action, i.e., the alleviation of poverty and integration into the global economy, must be driven by African self-reliance (ownership) and coordination among the international community (partnership) if the continent is to move onto a firm development path and prepare for the century ahead. On that understanding, it is essential that Japan, as a co-organizer and a host country of the TICAD I and II, persevere in its efforts to involve other members of the international community in the process to achieve the goals and, continue to play the role of an active development partner in order to sustain the momentum generated by TICAD II. To that end, Japan will steadily implement aid it has already pledged by, starting with projects considered to be the most feasible.

One of the more noteworthy undertakings Japan has implemented since TICAD II is Japan's assistance package to South Africa, announced in June 1999 after the Mbeki administration came into office. As a country that accounts for 45 percent of the continent's entire GNP, it is imperative that South Africa function as a locomotive of economic and social progress if Africa at large is to achieve the goals of the Tokyo Agenda for Action. These goals also demand that South Africa show further headway with the democratic transition that was set into motion by the inauguration of the Mandela administration in 1994. Following the inauguration of the new Mbeki administration, Japan announced that it would continue providing assistance to South Africa on a scale commensurate with its aid track record since 1994 (a cumulative total of $1.5 billion).

From the standpoint of striving for good governance, it should be noted that Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, effectively replaced the military administration that had been in power since 1993, with a civilian government in May 1999, following presidential elections and other steps in a process of democratic transition. In view of this change, Japan decided to resume its economic assistance to Nigeria.

In the years ahead, it will be even more important for Japan to implement efficient and effective aid programs in coordination with international organizations and donor countries that already have a wealth of experience in the African aid field. It is therefore essential that Japan become engaged actively in the sector program³⁸ formulation process that is already under way in several African countries.

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