| Japanese Ambassador gives a public lecture at Strathmore |
In attendance were the Nigerian High Commissioner, His Excellency Dr Chijioke W. Wigwe; and Prof Miriam Were, Chairperson Kenya National AIDS Control Council (NACC); Japan's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and UN Habitat, Mr Tasuo Seino, among 300 plus guests. The ambassador said the Japanese government will double its development support to Africa in the next five years. He also emphasized the TICAD philosophy of Africa owning its development process as well as the importance of 'Partnership' between Africa and the international community. Japan will double its Official Direct Aid (ODA) without counting debt relief to Africa by 2012. It will also double its bilateral grants within the same period. However, as an urgent response to the escalating food security crisis in Africa, the Japanese government has initiated an Emergency Food Aid worth US$100 million between the months of May and July. Up to US$ 4 Billion Official Direct Investment Special focus Loan will be advanced for infrastructure and agricultural development alone. The 4th TICAD conference also served as a prelude to the July G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit where the focus will be on Africa's Development. The focus areas of cooperation identified under the TICAD Conference will be debated and hopefully endorsed by the G8 summit. The TICAD conference has been held every 5 years since 1993 after 'aid fatigue' struck Africa in the early 90's upon the end of the Cold War. It was launched by the Japanese government with an aim of refocusing international attention on the importance and urgency of African development issues. The 4th TICAD conference adopted three documents which articulate how the objectives set under the various areas of cooperation will be achieved. These include the TICAD declaration, the TICAD action plan and the TICAD follow-up mechanism. Focused areas of Cooperation
Support for regional infrastructure development which is an ambitious plan to develop a regional road network and also facilitate the formalization of cross-border procedures such as a One Stop Border Post (OSBP). The power infrastructure is also earmarked for upgrade through support on development of transmission lines. TICAD also emphasized on the Public-private partnership in ownership and development of infrastructure.
In addition to the $100 Million Emergency Food Aid, agricultural productivity will be increased with rice production being doubled through the use of NERICA (New Rice for Africa) which is a high protein, early maturing, pest resistant, drought tolerant and low fertilizer hybrid of Asian and African rice.
The Japanese government will assist in doubling foreign direct investment from the Japanese private sector to Africa, up to US$ 3.4 billion by the end of 2012. It has also pledged a financial support of US$ 2.5 billion that includes a JBIC (Japan Bank for International Cooperation) facility for African Investment that will be established in April 2009. JBIC is a Japanese supported bank that supports business development of Japanese firms operating in foreign countries. It will also be dispatching joint public-private sector missions for trade and investment.
Through TICAD 1,000 primary schools with approximately 5,500 classrooms will be constructed, 100,000 teachers trained in mathematics and science, and management of 10,000 schools improved through local community participation dubbed "School for All"
To support access to health services the Japanese government will advance US $560 million to the Global Heath Fund, train 100,000 health workers and also support the improvement of maternal, newborn and child health. The ambassador cited the introduction of a child and maternal health handbook that has proven to be of great success in Japan and Malaysia.
Sometimes the benefits derived from development initiatives may not reach the local communities directly. TICAD has decided to circumvent this through advocating for the One Village One Product (OVOP) movement. It is also promoting the set up of African Millennium Villages (AVM) which is an integrated approach to achieving all the millennium development goals at the village level.
The government of Japan will support development of water facilities to provide safe drinking water to 6.5 million people and build capacity of 5,000 water managers and users. It will also dispatch Water Security Action Teams to countries to conserve precious water resources.
Climate change remains a hot issue. The Japanese government has pledged US$ 10 billion which will be disbursed globally over 5 years. The funds will be used in mitigation of environmental degradation, enhancing adaptation to environmental change and in improving access to energy. |
The Japanese Ambassador to Kenya His Excellency Shigeo Iwatani on Wednesday, June 18, 2008 gave a public lecture on the 4th Tokyo International Conference on Africa Development (TICAD) held from 28th to 30th May in Yokohama, Japan.