By Deogratias Mmana:
The Japanese Government has committed to promoting trade and investment in Africa.
Japanese Parliamentary Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Fukazawa Yoichi said this at the closing of a ministerial meeting between Japan and 47 African countries, held from August 24 to 25 in preparation for the ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (Ticad).
Minister of Foreign Affairs Nancy Tembo was among the 47 African ministers who attended the meeting in Japan.
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Fukazawa outlined three perspectives for promoting trade within and outside Africa and investment in Africa.
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He said Japan would support Japanese companies in trading and investing in Africa.
Fukazawa expressed his expectations for the promotion of policies by African countries to encourage entrepreneurship among women and youth, as well as start-ups for economic transformation and innovative solutions to social issues.
He added that both Japan and Africa would contribute to the creation of a start-up ecosystem.
“I expect African countries to listen sincerely to the difficulties and requests of private companies on the front line, work together to address challenges and create a predictable level playing field,” Fukazawa said.
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During a dinner hosted for her on August 24, Tembo conveyed her expectations for further investment by Japanese companies in Malawi and also looked forward to Japan’s human resource development assistance, especially in the mining sector.
According to the communiqué issued at the end of the ministerial meeting, the African countries and Japan resolved to create an open, reliable and resilient start-up ecosystem that can sustainably attract and manage domestic and external resources.
“We committed to making efforts to forge a strategic partnership with the private sector in order to improve Africa’s business environment. In this context, we stressed the importance of fostering an entrepreneurial culture where the youth and women play an essential role,” the communiqué reads.
Ticad 9 will take place in August next year in Yokohama, Japan, under the theme of ‘Co-create innovative solutions with Africa’.
