Strong ties with Japan good for Africa

As nearly 10,000 delegates jetted into Nairobi for the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) VI, Kenya and Africa have good cause to evaluate the general character of international gatherings somewhat differently. PHOTO: COURTESY

As nearly 10,000 delegates jetted into Nairobi for the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) VI, Kenya and Africa have good cause to evaluate the general character of international gatherings somewhat differently.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stated clearly that in the 23 years since the TICAD process began, the total amount of Overseas Development Aid (ODA) to Africa that Japan has carried out amounts to $47 billion.

In projecting into the future, the Japanese PM told more than 30 African heads of state and governments; including leading UN and other multi-lateral development agencies, that Japan will appropriate approximately $10 billion to Africa over the next three years; specifically for building infrastructure.

“When combined with investment from the private sector, I expect the total will amount to 30 billion US dollars... an investment that has faith in Africa’s future, an investment for both Japan and Africa to grow together,” stated the PM.

It should be recalled that during the TICAD V in Yokohama, Japan, in 2013, an equally generous pledge of $32 billion was made, and as rightly observed by the PM, that pledge still has two more years to go and, happily, 67 percent of the promises have been delivered. That, by any measure, is a sterling performance.

There are many reasons why the TICAD bears all the hallmarks of the resilience and focus for which Japan is now renowned. Our Special Programme Magazine produced for TICAD VI, confirms an important truth when it states that in working with the Japanese in the last three months, many in Kenya’s Public Service will have to reckon with, and acknowledge the Japanese modus operandi; the Japanese way of doing things.

That way of doing things is clearly marked by a nearly inimitable sense of detail and thoroughness and rightly explains why in a relatively short span of time, Japan has become such an important and influential global player.

Such, in my view, is the background against which Kenya hosted TICAD VI on behalf of Africa; also the first time it has ever been held outside of Japan.

TICAD’s founders settled on a structure meant to deliver across some of Africa’s critical and priority needs such as infrastructure; health and social stability which were also the three main themes that dominated the TICAD VI Summit discussions.

Considering that the African Union’s ‘Agenda 2063’ has for its part also prioritised the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA), it seems quite clear that TICAD’s priorities fits quite well into the continent’s own set of priorities.

As it were, the TICAD structure allows for the highest level policy dialogues as has been witnessed at the KICC where the Private Sector has had an historic and first time interactive session with the Heads of State.

Such an opportunity enables the energies of the private sector to be fully engulfed with TICAD’s agenda. By the same token, the CSOs and other continental stakeholders have had their say.

 

A little lower down, TICAD provides for layers of implementation as well as monitoring and evaluation that are buck stopped by the technical and operational levels to ensure that policy decisions are translated into action.

It is these levels that produce tangible results of the standards enumerated in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s powerful statement in Nairobi.TICAD VI has clearly signalled that there is a long-standing Japanese conviction in becoming a genuine partner with Africa to be realised through genuine friendship and mutually beneficial collaboration.

The organisation put Kenya’s public servants and their Japanese counterparts in the driving seat. The Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) became home to many Japanese public servants. They discussed to the minutest detail; questioned each other; shared plans and agreed on how best to deliver TICAD VI on the African soil.

It has confirmed a little-appreciated fact; that Japan and Africa have so much in common as so eloquently captured by PM Abe that, “When you cross the seas of Asia and the Indian Ocean and come to Nairobi, you then understand very well that what connects Asia and Africa is the sea lanes”.

He continued to state that, “...the future abounds with blazes of bright colours and that we are poised to hear the intense yet refreshing beat of the drums. My African friends, let us continue to walk forward together, believing in the potential that the future holds.”

I believe the historic event has afforded Kenya and Africa a refreshing opportunity to take its vision even further by turning the promises into the long-lasting change and transformation that Africa needs in this global era of Sustainable Development Goals.