The eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 8) which will take place in Tunis from August 27 to 28, is expected to further strengthen relations between Japan and African countries as they are set to discuss how they can create a sustainable world together.The Government of Japan has been leading the conference since 1993, co-hosted by the United Nations (UN), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), World Bank and African Union Commission (AUC).TICAD is a multilateral forum whose participants include not only African countries but also international organisations, partner countries, private companies and civil society organisations involved in development.The conference provides an open forum that generates innovative discussions among various stakeholders on African development.According to Miyashita Tadayuki, Deputy Director-General in the Department of African Affairs in Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the conference’s format will include plenary sessions and a business forum to be held in person as well as official side events that will be held online in principle.He said that 54 African countries are expected to attend as well as representatives from Japan, UNDP, Word Bank and AUC.Talking about its purpose, he said that given the complexity of the international community due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the situation in Ukraine, Japan and African countries will discuss how to create a sustainable world together.Tadayuki also noted that Japan will firmly stand by Africa as a partner growing together and will further strengthen cooperation with African countries looking ahead to upcoming events such as the G7 summit in Hiroshima to be held next year.He noted that Japan will also set out a pathway for African development looking ahead to the post-Covid-19 era, by highlighting Japan’s strength, which is “quality growth” and “focus on people” and by strongly supporting African-led development, adding that Japan will also contribute to enhancing the food security in Africa to address African food crisis which is deteriorated by the situation in Ukraine.TICAD’s pillars include Economy; where it further accelerates Japanese investment in Africa, Society; building a resilient and sustainable society as well as Peace and Stability; which goes with supporting African-led efforts towards achieving the two.Ahead of TICAD8, key stakeholders in the continent’s development met in South Africa on June 21 to discuss how to advance Africa’s economic integration to achieve resilient and inclusive socio-economic development and the key was how to promote the implementation of AfCFTA.The symposium was one of JICA’s pre-events for TICAD8.On July 6 in Paris, JICA, which is currently in 31 African countries, also hosted another pre-event for TICAD.It brought together a group of eminent development thinkers and practitioners to discuss an important question: “does development cooperation with Africa need rethinking in light of global crises such as Covid-19 pandemic, hikes in food and energy prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and the global climate emergency?”During the symposium, Nakamura Kato Ryuichi, Vice-President of JICA declared that African ownership will be a key theme of the TICAD8, adding that the idea went hand-in-hand with the concept of human security, the people-focused development principle that guides JICA’s work.JICA will also host 26 online side events during TICAD8 from August 22 to 26.They will discuss areas that include agriculture, decent work, regional integration, peace, university exchange, climate change, resilient economy, youth and human resources, nutrition, human security, vaccines, private sector, natural resource management, green energy as well as justice.
