Chapter 2
Japan's Foreign Policy by Region
Section 8 Africa
1 Overview
Africa, with a population of over 1.4 billion in 54 countries, has been attracting the interest of the international community, owing to its high potential that can be a driving force for global growth and rich natural resources. Meanwhile, Africa, in which conflicts, political turmoil, terrorism, and the COVID-19 pandemic threaten peace and stability and hinder sustainable growth, still faces development challenges including serious poverty.
While COVID-19 continued to affect African economies and societies in 2022, progress was made to combat it, with the number of new daily infections falling from a peak of more than 280,000 (as of December 2021) to less than 5,000 (as of December 2022) and the overall vaccination coverage in Africa increasing from 11% in the same period in 2021 to 25% (as of December 2022).
2022 continued to be a year of unstable political and security situations in multiple parts of Africa. In the Sahel region, there were two military takeovers in Burkina Faso in 2022, following Mali in 2020 and Guinea in 2021. In the Great Lakes region, tensions between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda are increasing. In the Horn of Africa region, the ongoing conflict between the Government of Ethiopia and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) is expected to be interrupted by a peace agreement announced in November, which is desired to be steadily implemented.
Russia's aggression against Ukraine, which started in February 2022, had a tremendous impact on the political and social situation in Africa. Africa had been facing food shortages due to climate change, COVID-19, and conflicts, and the situation in Ukraine further exacerbated food and fuel price hikes, creating a severe food crisis for some 350 million people.
With these challenges facing Africa in mind, the Eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 8), held in Tunisia in August, discussed ways for Japan, as “a partner growing together with Africa,” to realize a resilient Africa that Africa itself aims to achieve. TICAD 8 was attended by representatives from 48 African countries including 20 heads of state and government, representatives from the Japan-African Union (AU) Friendship Parliamentary League, international organizations, private companies, and civil society organizations, who discussed Africa's development under the three pillars of “economy,” “society,” and “peace and stability” (see the Special Feature on page 180). Japan also announced that it is going to invest 30 billion US dollars as the sum of public and private financial contributions over the next three years, with an emphasis on “investing in people” and “the quality of growth” to promote African development with approaches quintessentially Japanese that focuses on “people.” In the first pillar of “Economy,” for African economies and societies, which have been seriously affected by COVID-19 and the situation in Ukraine, Japan announced that it would contribute to the realization of a resilient African economy by promoting private investment, securing fair and transparent development finance, promoting green investment, and strengthening of food security. The participants shared the recognition that African development should not be impeded by unfair and opaque development finance.
In the second pillar, “Society,” Japan announced that the creation of high-quality living environments is essential to ensure a steady growth of Africa, and that Japan would focus particularly on health, education, and the environment. The participants reiterated the need for the international community to stand together in solidarity with African countries against issues commonly faced by all humankind, such as infectious diseases including COVID-19 and climate change.
In the third pillar, “Peace and Stability,” Japan announced that it would vigorously support the promotion of the rule of law through institution building and the strengthening of governance in the judicial and administrative fields, and also support Africa's own efforts to return to constitutional order and consolidated democracy. Japan also announced its contribution to the initiatives to improve administrative services, including the contribution to enhancing community infrastructure.
With following up on TICAD in mind, in October, State Minister for Foreign Affairs YAMADA Kenji attended the 8th Dakar International Forum on Peace and Security in Africa held in Dakar, Senegal. Also, President of Senegal Macky Sall paid an official working visit to Japan in December.
Prime Minister Kishida delivering a　speech at the TICAD 8 Opening Session (August 27, Tunis, Tunisia)
Over two days from August 27 to 28, the Eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 8) was held in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. Participants included Prime Minister Kishida and Foreign Minister Hayashi, as well as representatives from 48 African countries, including 20 heads of state and government. Prime Minister Kishida provided remarks at each session via online and video messages, and Foreign Minister Hayashi participated in every session in person as the Special Envoy of the Prime Minister.
TICAD 8 featured plenary sessions based on three pillars: Economy, Society, and Peace and Stability, as well as the Business Forum and the Fourth Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize Award Ceremony (see Chapter 2, Section 8, for details of the three plenary sessions).
The Business Forum was attended by around 100 business persons from both Japanese and African companies, with approximately 300 participants, including African economy ministers, representatives of development financial institutions, and Japanese public organizations. They discussed ways to strengthen business interactions between Japan and Africa.
Group photo at the Fourth Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize Award Ceremony (August 28, Tunis, Tunisia)
At the Fourth Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize Award Ceremony, in the Medical Research Category, Dr. Salim S. Abdool Karim and Dr. Quarraisha Abdool Karim from South Africa won the Prize recognizing their contributions to the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and COVID-19. In the Medical Services Category, the “Guinea Worm Eradication Program” (U.S.) won the Prize recognizing its contributions to the eradication of Guinea worm disease.
At TICAD 8, Japan stated that Japan is going to invest 30 billion US dollars as the sum of public and private financial contributions over the next three years in the following fields: green growth, promotion of investment including start-up support, development finance, public health and sanitation, human resource development, regional stabilization, food crisis response and agricultural production support (see Chapter 3, Section 2, 1 (5) G on page 272, for details of Japan's initiatives). The participating African countries expressed their gratitude for Japan's ongoing commitment to African development.
The “TICAD 8 Tunis Declaration” was adopted between the leaders of Japan and Africa as the outcome document of TICAD 8, in which they confirmed to cooperate across a wide range of fields in the future. As well as expressing deep concern about the situation in Ukraine, the Declaration stresses their commitment to working together based on international law including the UN Charter, and respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries. It also emphasizes that all countries must seek peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international law.
Foreign Minister Hayashi presiding over the TICAD 8 Closing Ceremony (August 28, Tunis, Tunisia)
At TICAD 8, Prime Minister Kishida held bilateral talks with representatives of a total of 10 countries and international organizations, such as President Kais Saied of Tunisia, President Macky Sall of Senegal (Chairperson of the African Union (AU)), and Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC) Faki Mahamat (one of the TICAD 8 co-organizers). Foreign Minister Hayashi also held bilateral talks with representatives of a total of 21 countries including eight heads of state and government. Through these engagements, Prime Minister Kishida and Foreign Minister Hayashi discussed the issues affecting various countries in Africa and the complex international affairs relevant to Africa. Regarding Russia's aggression against Ukraine, Japan emphasized to African countries that Russia's action shakes the very foundation of the international order and the international community must unitedly respond against it. Japan also conveyed its strong commitment to strengthening food security in Africa and laid out specific support in order to do so. In terms of development finance, Japan conveyed the importance of transparency and fairness, confirming that it would work to build greater shared awareness of concerns as well as work together to secure transparent and fair development finance.
The dynamic and interactive discussions between Japanese and African stakeholders during the two days of TICAD 8 spanned a wide range of fields, and painted a clear picture of the future direction of Africa's development. The next conference, TICAD 9, will be held in Japan in 2025. Looking ahead, Japan will build on the momentum generated at TICAD 8 to further promote diplomacy toward Africa.
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