Press Releases
Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) Ministerial Meeting (Day 2: Session 3, Closing Ceremony)
August 25, 2024
On August 25, Ms. KAMIKAWA Yoko, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, attended the Closing Session of the Ministerial Meeting of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), which was held at Hotel New Otani from 2:00 p.m. for about 30 minutes. In addition, Mr. FUKAZAWA Yoichi, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, attended Session 3, which was held from 9:00 a.m. for approximately 3 hours and 40 minutes.
47 African countries participated in the Ministerial Meeting.
1. Plenary Session 3 (Economy: “Promoting Trade and Investment”)
- At the outset, Parliamentary Vice-Minister Fukazawa showed three perspectives for “promotion of trade within and outside Africa, as well as investment in Africa.” Firstly, he mentioned the promotion of Africa's own economic reform efforts. Referring to the appointment of officials in charge of cross-border economic affairs to seven diplomatic missions in six countries, mainly outside Africa, which began in April this year against the backdrop of the huge market created chiefly by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), he stated that Japan would support Japanese companies’ trade and invest in Africa. Secondly, he expressed his expectations for promotion of policies by African countries to encourage entrepreneurship among women and youth as well as start-ups for economic transformation and innovative solutions to social issues, and stated that Japan, together with Africa, would contribute to the creation of a start-up ecosystem. Thirdly, as shared expectations from private companies towards Africa, he expressed his expectations that African countries would listen sincerely to the difficulties and requests of private companies on the front line, work together to address challenges, and create a predictable level playing field.
- As a new initiative, panel discussions and networking session focusing on the three perspectives above were held with the participation of many private companies from Japan and Africa. It brought together the public and private sectors for a lively discussion on the efforts of Japanese and African governments and international organizations to support the creation of start-up ecosystems, and provided an opportunity for new encounters between the private sectors of Japan and Africa.
2. Closing Session
- Following opening remarks by H. E. Dr. Mohamed Salem MERZOUG, Minister of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Mauritanians Abroad of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, the Chair of the AU, each TICAD Co-Organizer made a statement.
- To conclude, Minister Kamikawa reviewed the discussions in each session, where various actors brought together their ideas under the slogan “Co-create innovative solutions with Africa” underpinned by three perspectives: future-oriented problem solving, emphasis on youth and women, and usage of connectivity and knowledge platforms. Minister Kamikawa then noted that the discussions were held with an emphasis on listening attentively to the African side and promoting solutions through dialogue. She stated that many innovative solutions were shared within the discussions, and that an agreement was reached to apply these solutions and ideas to other parts of Africa and also to the resolution of global challenges.
- At the Closing Session, “TICAD Ministerial Meeting Joint Communique” was adopted as the outcome of this Ministerial Meeting.
(Reference)
TICAD Ministerial Meeting Joint Communique (English (PDF) 
/ French (PDF) )
Session 3 : Statement by Parliamentary Vice-Minister FUKAZAWA (English (PDF) / French (PDF) )
Closing Session : Statement by Minister KAMIKAWA (English (PDF) / French (PDF) )