Japan Pledges To Invest $30bn In Africa

President Mahama was among Heads of State and Government ministers, United Nations agencies and more than 10,000 delegates who were in Nairobi for the 6th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD VI), the first on African soil.

Among issues to be discussed are: industrialization, health, social stability and plans to feature the private sector from Africa and Japan.

President Sirleaf concluded that it was a great moment to see TICAD V being held in Africa, saying Japan now says that Africa now come of age and it Africa can take its development into its own hands.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Monday that Japan wanted to sell its own intentions to African countries and had attempted to sow discord between China and Africa. Future demographic changes, especially growing youth and middle-class, and rapid urbanization will bring opportunities and challenges to the current socio-economic structure of Africa”.She added that while poverty in African population has been declining, it still exceeds 300 million.

Pledging to mobilise a total of $30 billion in funds to invest in Africa over the next three years, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stated that the eastern nation would offer support to development led by Africans for Africa.

Sierra Leone’s Vice President, Dr. Victor Bockarie Foh on Friday 26th August, arrived in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, representing His Excellency, President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma at the Sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), presently taking place at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre in Nairobi, Kenya.

Japan’s direct investment into Africa has been overshadowed by China, who made a $2 billion single investment to build a hydropower dam in Equatorial Guinea in April, previous year to double the nation’s energy production capacity.

“Japan wants to be a permanent member of the UN Security Council and they would want to get more people agreeing to this agenda”, Takeshita told Al Jazeera.

Chad’s Idriss Deby, who now chairs the African Union, noted that Africa’s economy had been badly affected by falling commodity prices, several conflicts and climate change.