“TICAD 6”: Japan To Invest $40 Billion On African Economies – PM

Posted by African Examiner Featured, Latest Headlines, World News Wednesday, August 31st, 2016

By Niyi Adeyi

BALTIMORE, MD (AFRICAN EXAMINER) – Japanese Prime Minister PM Shinzo Abe has announced his country’s willingness to spend $10 Billion in the next 12 months and overall $30 Billion over a three-year period on key some areas to the African economies.

While the areas being targeted include: infrastructural projects such as roads, energy, ports, hospitals and training institutions, the money PM Abe specified would partly be disbursed through the African Development Bank, ADB.

Abe made known at the just concluded Tokyo International Conference on African Development, “TICAD 6” which held last weekend in Nairobi, Kenya.

In a piece titled: “Six Takeaways From President Buhari’s Participation
In “TICAD 6” Nairobi, Kenya” written by President Muhammadu Buhari’s SSA on Media and Publicity Mallam Garba Shehu, the Conference in the end, issued a statement tagged “Nairobi Declaration”.

Among its highlights is the launching of “Initiative for Food and Nutrition Security for Africa, IFNA.”This aims to bring African governments together to swiftly implement food and nutrition security policies and programs. There were important resolutions taken on economic diversification and industrialization; promotion of “resilient health system for quality of life” and measures for the promotion social stability and shared prosperity” the President’s aide stated.

On the relevance of the Conference, Garba listed that “TICAD 6″ milestones include the important meeting between President Buhari and PM Abe, in which both discussed and agreed on problems militating against the inflow of Japanese investment.

President Buhari the piece indicated, used the meeting effectively in giving assurances that the challenge of insurgency was being addressed, with assurance that Boko Haram terrorism was nearly gone, while sabotage in the Niger Delta would soon end, “preferably through dialogue and if not, by force of arms”.

The two leaders discussed the issues of trade and investment, health, peace and development of the continent, in addition, to issues relating to diplomacy and international relations.

Mr. President’s statement at the Head of States’ round table meeting with business leaders Garba said underscored the serious efforts government is making to improve Nigeria’s notoriously bad business environment.

Buhari, he noted also announced the coming into place of a soon-to-be inaugurated “Presidential Enabling Business Council, PEBEC.”

“He described it as an inter-ministerial council to oversee the efforts of government to remove various bottlenecks that stifle business and economic activity to give way to the right enabling environment and investment climate in Nigeria. It will be powered by the government but will be private-sector driven.

“According to its vision, the PEBEC will make Nigeria one of the most attractive business destinations in the world. It will start with the modest effort of moving the country up 20 points in the World Bank ranking in the ease of doing business in the first year, taking it into the top 100 at the end of the four-year mandate of the current administration.

TICAD Shehu wrote sought a “win-win partnership” between Japan and Africa, affirming further that a key objective of the meeting was to build up African ownership of its own vision of growth and development.

Parts of uniqueness of the Conference which holds every five years from the time it started in 1993 until the last one in 2003 when it was decided that it should be convened every three years instead, is that Nairobi’s edition was the first in Africa.

Another significant departure is the recognition of the role of the private sector in the economic take-off of the continent. In this respect, more than 100 Chief Executive Officers, CEOs from leading Japanese companies accompanied PM Abe.
This Mallam Shehu wrote is a clear indication that more and more Japanese companies “are eying the African continent”.

In addition, sizeable Nigerian business and state-owned enterprises were equally present at the two-day international Conference.