A good number of heads of state from Africa is expected to participate the seventh edition of the Tokyo International Conference for African Development (TICAD) summit to be held in the Japanese city of Yokohama between 28 to 30 August 2019.
The government of Japan leads the conference with the United Nations, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), World Bank and African Union Commission (AUC) as the co-hosts. Among the African leaders who would participate in the deliberations of the summit are Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria, Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa, Ibrahim Boubakar Keita, Mali, Edgar Lungu, Zambia and Macky Sall, Senegal
Apart from deliberations of the heads of state and other senior government functionaries, there are a number of country specific sessions to engage in bilateral talks with the host nation and among themselves. At TICAD 6, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, committed that Japan would spend US$30 billion in the form of investment package by 2018 including a US$10 billion investment in infrastructure development. This was in addition to the investment by the private sector.
www.trendsnafrica.com has tried to know about the quantum of investment made by Japan as a follow up of the commitment made by the Japanese head of state in 2013, when the last TICAD was held. It appears that the figures are not in the public domain. May be at the seventh edition of the summit, the data may be released of Japanese investment in the continent between 2013 and now. Also, Japan, though has a considerable investment in Africa, is facing severe competition from countries like China, Russia and the US in bagging prestigious and big ticket projects in Africa. Can the new edition of the TICAD address these issues?
