“The President will also hold a bilateral meeting with the Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe”, the statement read in part.
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Duncan Onduu, a Nairobi-based sustainable development analyst, said he expected hot topics to include climate change and agriculture investment.
The conference that ended on Sunday at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre in Nairobi was the first to be held in Africa, Tokyo has hosted the last five events.
Like China, Japan is an important market for African raw materials, particularly energy, and also a way for Africa to diversify its import customers.
Note that Japan’s overall direct investment in Africa totaled $1.24 billion in 2015, down from about $1.5 billion a year earlier, according to the Japan External Trade Organization, which does not provide a breakdown of sectors.
“This is an investment that has faith in Africa’s future, an investment for both Japan and Africa to grow together”, Abe said in a keynote speech at the opening session on Saturday. In this respect, Tokyo will cooperate with the African Development Bank (AfDB) to boost private sector investment on the continent struggling with intermittent power outages, dilapidated infrastructure, poor sanitation and grinding poverty.
Japan will invest $30bn in Africa over the next three years, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pledged at a summit in Kenya. “They seek the establishment of safe business environment and realization of free and stable corporate activities”, said Abe. Organizers say that over 10,000 delegates have registered to participate in the conference at Nairobi’s Kenyatta International Conference Center.
For Japan, Africa is vital, economically and politically, given the region’s vast market and clout in the United Nations, Japanese officials say.
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Some of the African presidents present at the 6 TICAD were Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Jacob Zuma of South Africa, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Paul Kagame of Rwanda, and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia among others.
