Why Japan is eyeing bigger role in Africa

Addis ABABA: Japan is shaping a bigger role for itself in Africa with increased aid and investment, a pledge to share the secrets of its famed work ethic and, most of all, through making African women shine.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is making good on promises last year to hoist Africa higher on the Japanese agenda. He will end a three-nation tour of the continent on Tuesday with a strong speech at the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa.

Africa now “carries the hopes of the world” thanks to the potential of its resources and its dynamic economic growth, he said after a minute’s silence for the late former president Nelson Mandela. “I myself would like to visit Africa multiple times … to support vigorously these efforts to bring about a brilliant future for Africa.”

Abe started his Africa visit last week in Côte d’Ivoire, the slowly re-emerging pivot of French-speaking Africa, and went on to booming Mozambique, where Japan is to fund the $174m (Sh15 billion )construction of a new gas-fired power plant. 

His final stop was Ethiopia, a rapidly developing East African country of 92-million people. The 54 members of the AU have vital votes if tensions between China and Japan degenerate. Plans were announced for direct flights between Addis Ababa and Tokyo. Ethiopia and Mozambique are among China’s closest economic allies on the continent. Over the past decade China has leapfrogged over its Asian neighbour as a global economic force as well as Africa’s main trade partner.

Chinese annual trade with Africa has topped $200 billion (Sh1.7 trillion) , outstripping Japan about eightfold.

“There is no way that Japan can catch up,” said trade expert Peter Draper, a senior research fellow at the South African Institute of International Affairs.

“They are more about keeping up some old relationships in Africa and looking for some new ones.” Japan created a vehicle for its relations with Africa in 1993 called Tokyo International Conference on African Development (Ticad).

At the last year’s Ticad 5, Abe’s government pledged aid of $32 billion (Sh2.8 trillion) over the next five years. On Tuesday, Abe pledged $320m (Sh27.8 trillion) in assistance for African conflict areas and natural disasters.

But his intriguing promise was to share the Kaizen philosophy for making workplaces happy and productive. Most important of all, he said, was that Japan believed African women were the key to its success.

“When African women shine, Africa will most certainly be truly radiant,” he said.

Meanwhile, China China launched a scathing diplomatic attack against Japan on Wednesday, warning African nations of an impending “resurrection of Japanese militarism” and branding Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a “troublemaker”.

In a press conference held the day after Abe wrapped up a landmark African tour aimed at boosting Japan’s presence in the continent, China’s ambassador to the African Union accused him of trying to undermine Beijing’s own diplomatic reach.

“Abe has worked hard to portray China as a threat, aiming to sow discord, raising regional tensions and so creating a convenient excuse for the resurrection of Japanese militarism,” the ambassador said.

He alleged that the conservative Japanese leader’s visit to Africa was part of what he described as a “China containment policy.” —Agencies