Japan in Africa

The sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (Ticad VI) will be held in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, on Aug. 27 and 28. It will be the first Ticad in Africa since 1993, when the conference was held for the first time. It will also be the first conference under the new system of alternate hosting in Japan and Africa every three years, which is a change from Japan’s exclusive hosting every five years.

One characteristic of Ticad is that it is a multilateral (or inclusive) top-level meeting hosted by the Japanese government, with the other co-organizing bodies, such as the United Nations and the World Bank, playing a central role. This co-hosting method is a strategic arrangement that led to the hosting of Ticad VI in Africa.

What are the developments that led to this outcome?

The Global Coalition for Africa (GCA), which had been among the co-organizing bodies for the first three Ticads, was dissolved in September 2007, thereby ending its role. For that reason, efforts commenced to make the African Union Commission (AUC), the secretariat for the African Union (AU), another co-organizing body representing Africa in place of the GCA. The AUC had established alternate hosting principles with China (Focac) and the European Union (EU-Africa Summit). The acquisition of further support from Japan was sought in the context of competition with these partners.

In an additional development, the secretariat of the New Partnership for African Development was integrated into the AU in January 2010. The AU had undertaken activities centered on security whereby it would involve itself more deeply in development issues.

The awareness of the importance of the AUC as a Ticad co-organizer grew as a result, and its status as such was decided when then AUC chair Jean Ping visited Japan in August 2010. In June 2014, the AU adopted a resolution affirming its hope of hosting a Ticad in Africa and holding it every three years. The alternate hosting method was officially decided with a concrete statement on “round-robin hosting” that was made by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe when he attended the United Nations General Assembly in September 2014.

At a press conference held last February, the Chief Cabinet Secretary formally declared that Ticad VI would be hosted in Kenya this month, and that subsequent hosting would alternate between Japan and Africa every three years.

Explaining the significance of holding such conferences in Africa, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed the response to a rising sense of African ownership. This is consistent with the “ownership reinforcement” advocated by the AUC. At the same time, the Japanese Ministry positions the Ticad function as an opportunity to widely communicate Japan’s contributions to Africa’s development, and Japan’s attractions to people in Africa and the rest of the world as an additional area of significance.

The conference scheduled in Nairobi is anticipated to draw interest in Kenya at least. To a certain extent, it is expected to contribute more to Japan’s efforts toward making its presence felt in Africa. Thus, Ticad VI can be positioned as the beginning of efforts to build closer relationships between Japan and African nations.

The international environment surrounding Africa has undergone significant changes since Ticad V. New problems have emerged. These include the vulnerability of the health systems as exposed by the prevalence of Ebola H-fever, the expansion of violent extremism in West Africa and Northeast Africa, and international resource price declines caused by factors including the slowing Chinese economy.

There is also concern that Brexit may have adverse effects on Africa. The future of the African economy remains unpredictable. In addition, a decline in relative interest in Africa linked with the rise of the Islamic State and the associated refugee flow to Europe has been pointed out.

Taking these changes into consideration, Japan must work out more flexible and effective assistance in a manner that prioritizes the problems faced by Africa. Moreover, how to display original characteristics against other forums that are implementing alternate hosting principles is an issue that Japan should consider in the long term.

Mitsugi Endo is a professor at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo.