TICAD re-designed to become more business oriented
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and his delegation are attending the 7th Tokyo International Conference on International Development (TICAD) with other African leaders and development partners.
TICAD is a multilateral forum whose participants also include international organizations, partners, private companies and civil society organizations involved in development.
“Africa is an important region both politically and economically. That perception is now shared” by top political and business leaders of the world, Japantimes reported quoting Shinichi Takeuchi, professor and head of the African Studies Center at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.
“It’s certain that a huge market will be formed in Africa,” he said. One of key reasons for Tokyo to launch TICAD in 1993 was that many African countries were struggling from poverty and political instability.
Another key aim of Japan was to win African countries’ support for Tokyo’s bid to reform the United Nations and become a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, according to Japantimes.
But that attitude appears to be finally changing, given the recent high economic and population growth.
As a result, TICAD has now been re-designed to become more business oriented than ever, Japanese officials said. A plenary meeting today will be attended by private-sector business leaders from both Japan and Africa for the first time.
This change represents a major departure from Japan’s original policy behind TICAD, which was mainly focused on ODA to be provided by Tokyo. “It’s clear that TICAD has become more and more business-oriented over the past 10 years. Now the top agenda is how to bring Japanese private-sector businesses to Africa,” said Takeuchi of the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.
The Ethiopian Herald August 29/2019
BY STAFF REPORTER
