The chief UK representative of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Hirotaka Nakamura, and JICAs chief Ethiopia representative, Kimiaki Jin, discussed issues and outcomes expected at the Fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V) during a recent forum held in London
TICAD V, which will be held in June 2013 in Yokohama, will be aimed at extending Japan's commitment to African development with partners including the UNDP, the World Bank and the African Union Commission (AUC).
The key emphasis will be on creating a more vibrant, more dynamic Africa - a continent enabled, empowered to grow socially and economically, and to act as a representative of the achievement of peace and good governance.
TICAD has represented, for two decades, progress toward the achievement of inclusive resilient society frameworks, and has allied itself to progressive efforts such as the Millennium Development Goals and the Climate Change agenda.
TICAD V also represents opportunities in trade and investment in Africa. The key aim, here, is to reduce disparities between rich and poor, through financial contributions to key commercial programmes by the Japanese government - and the contribution of the Japanese private sector, from firms such as Hitachi and Toyota, to capacity-building and skills development. With respect to funding, Japan works directly in Africa and through the African Development Bank (AfDB).
Security and stability in a resilient society
The achievement of a more dynamic continent is associated, in Japanese terms, with ensuring human security.
All factors affecting the human experience, then, contributing to a secure society, are considered within the Yokohama Action Plan 2013-2017, which the Japan International Cooperation Agency is helping to foster as an extension of the TICAD process, begun in 1993, but also as a key strand of Japanese governmental positioning with respect to international developmental initiatives. It is worth noting, in this regards, that the AUC is a co-host of TICAD V, following its engagement in TICAD IV.
The Yokohama Action Plan 2013-2017 is focussed very much on industrial investment, also. Industry is as key to the creation of a more dynamic Africa - Japan seeks to engender industrial growth through progressive measures with respect to trade, taxation, and transparency.
