President Robert Mugabe who is attending the 6th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in Nairobi, has held bilateral talks with his Kenyan counterpart President Uhuru Kenyatta. “They seem to meet a strategy basically around logistics and opening up the continent, and I think that’s going to work well for them”.
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“Thirdly, the rising wave of radicalisation, acts of terrorism and armed conflicts impedes social cohesion, destroys livelihoods and deepens vulnerabilities, ” it said.
Abe added the investment to have faith in the future of Africa.
According to the release, during TICAD’s fifth summit in 2013, Japan made a commitment to provide financial support amounting to $2 billion to promote low-carbon energy in Africa over five years.
Japan, which invested US$47 billion on the continent over the past 23 years, wants to connect Africa and Asia through sea lanes, Abe said.
Andrew Jones, head of Linklaters’ Africa unit, told Bloomberg TV in 2015 that Japan “has a much quieter and below-the-radar approach, less headline-grabbing than Chinese investment”. A portion of the funding will go through the African Development Bank. It was the first time the conference has been held in Africa since its inception in 1993.
Those on the president’s entourage are the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geofffrey Onyeama; Minister of Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelemah; Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udu-Udoma and the Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole.
Japan attaches importance to developing Mombasa port, a gateway to the East African market, and strengthening ties with Kenya amid China’s growing economic influence in the fast-growing, resource-rich continent. The critical ingredient of prosperity in the last century has been free and fair trade, infrastructure integration of regions, educated citizens who enjoy economic liberty and responsible governments.
He said there is a worrying trend for the developed world to turn inwards, even after benefiting from open trade before.
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