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Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan
Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan |

Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) Ministerial Meeting

TOKYO, Japan, August 31, 2017/APO/ --

The Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) Ministerial Meeting was held in Maputo, the Republic of Mozambique, on August 24 and August 25. The overview is as follows. Mr. Taro Kono, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Manabu Horii, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs and Mr. Arata Takebe Parliamentary Vice-Minister of the Environment attended from Japan. Foreign Minister Kono served as co-chair along with representatives of the co-organizers (the United Nations, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank, and the African Union Commission (AUC)). Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Oldemiro Júlio Marques Baloi attended from the host country Mozambique, and President Filipe Jacinto Nyusi was also present at the Opening Session and gave the welcome address.

1 Attendees and schedule
(1) Attendees
Representatives of 51 African countries (17 foreign ministers, 9 other ministers, 12 ministerial level officials) as well as development partner countries and Asian countries, international and regional organizations, and civil society, etc. participated in the TICAD Ministerial Meeting. 
(2) Schedule
Thu., August 24

Fri., August 25

2 Overview of the conference
At the Opening Session, Foreign Minister Kono stated that TICAD VI last year raised the partnership of Japan and Africa to a new level and that he wanted to work together with Africa toward realization of the “Agenda 2063” of the African Union (AU). Furthermore, he mentioned the “Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy” announced by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the occasion of TICAD VI, and emphasized the importance of strengthening connectivity between Asia and Africa through maritime order based on the principles of international law such as freedom of navigation as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and quality infrastructure investment. Moreover, he explained that in order to develop an environment to encourage private sector investment in Africa Japan is advancing negotiations for investment agreements.

Foreign Minister Kono explained in his speech at Plenary Session 1 that Japan has implemented initiatives worth approximately 5 billion dollars in line with the three pillars of the Nairobi Declaration (economic diversification and industrialization, health, and social stability) since last year, and that the total value of the initiatives from 2013 when TICAD V was held until 2016 had reached 26.7 billion dollars. He also stated that initiatives to further encourage private sector investment are important. Furthermore, he introduced good practices in African development using trilateral cooperation among Japan and other countries as evidence that TICAD is an open and inclusive forum. 

At Plenary Session 2, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Manabu Horii presented the progress of initiatives to encourage private sector investment including industrial human resources development through the ABE Initiative and financing from government agencies into projects by private sector companies, etc. Furthermore, he emphasized the importance of ensuring economic feasibility and debt sustainability when strengthening connectivity through quality infrastructure investment, and stated that it was necessary for key infrastructures, including international ports, to be in accordance with international standards and be operated in a fair, open, and highly transparent way. 

At Plenary Session 3, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Manabu Horii introduced initiatives for achieving sustainable and inclusive development, based on the concept of human security, such as capacity building to fight against infectious diseases, including cooperation in the health field toward promotion of universal health coverage (UHC) for resilient health systems as well as contributions for social stability in the areas including agriculture,  food security and vocational training for young people. Furthermore, he pointed out the importance of ensuring freedom of navigation and unimpeded lawful commerce for peace, stability and prosperity in the region, and stated that from this perspective it is necessary to maintain a rules-based maritime order based on the international laws as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Furthermore, Parliamentary Vice-Minister Takebe reported on the side-event on “African Clean Cities Platform.”

The “TICAD Progress Report 2017” and “Japan’s Initiatives 2017” were officially presented as the outcome documents of the Ministerial Meeting, and the overview of the discussions has been compiled as the Co-chairs’ Summary.

Co-Chairs' Summary

3 Separate meetings and side events
1. Meetings held by Minister for Foreign Affairs Kono and Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Manabu Horii with attendees from African countries
Minister for Foreign Affairs Kono paid courtesy call on President Filipe Nyusi of Mozambique and President Jacob Zuma of South Africa who happened to be in Maputo. He also held separate meetings with 11 ministers from Africa. Furthermore, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Horii held separate meetings with 8 ministerial-level participants from Africa.  

2. Side event “Dialogue with Private Sector from Japan and Africa
Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Manabu Horii attended the side-event “Dialogue with Private Sector from Japan and Africa” held on August 24 and gave an address in which he stated that private sector companies play an extremely large role to play in encouraging the development and economic growth of Africa, and that TICAD provides an important platform for public-private coordination. He also told that he is confident that Japanese companies’ advanced technical capabilities will contribute to solving the developmental challenges of Africa. Ernesto Max Elias Tonela, Minister of Industry and Commerce of Mozambique and Dr. Rob Davies, Minister of Trade and Industry, Republic of South Africa attended the event with other African Ministers, 49 Japanese private companies and a total of more than 400 participants from 130 African private companies. Furthermore, a signing ceremony for 5 MoU between 5 Japanese companies and 3 African countries was held at the event. 

3. Side event hosted by UNDP: Launching Ceremony of the Report about the Trend of Income Inequality in Sub Sahara Africa
Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Manabu Horii attended a launching ceremony of the Report about the Trend of Income Inequality in Sub Sahara Africa held on August 24 and told that, to continue the stable economic development in Africa, it is important that benefits of economic growth will spread to whole society and that for this purpose, investment to human resource, maintenance of domestic system, enhancement of productivity and reform of economic structure are critical. This side event was organized by UNDP and participated by African countries and UN agencies including the World Bank. 

4. Side event “African Clean Cities Platform”
Parliamentary Vice-Minister of the Environment Arata Takebe attended the TICAD Ministerial Meeting side event “African Clean Cities Platform” held on August 24 and gave an address in which he stated that realization of clean cities will not only bring about healthy lives but also attract tourists and the investment that is necessary for the sustainable development of Africa. He also told that Japan intends to continue collaborating closely with African countries by utilizing this platform together to implement concrete initiatives, such as human resources development and the promotion of the 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) for better waste management, etc. and continue collaborating closely with the African countries.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.