Japan
Strategy
Japan places high importance on infrastructure in Africa, for it serves “Poverty Reduction through Economic Growth”, one of the three pillars of its ODA strategy to Africa under TICAD (Tokyo International Conference on African Development) process. Japan, having announced its support to New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) during TICAD III in 2003, welcomes the recent move by international community and the G8 in particular to re-focus on the importance of infrastructure sector and the launch of the Infrastructure Consortium for Africa (ICA).
In 2005, Japan announced that it would strengthen its assistance to promote private sector development through “Enhanced Private Sector Assistance for Africa (EPSA)”, a joint initiative between Japan and African Development Bank. Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), being the centre of ODA strategy formulation, will enhance its assistance to promote economic development assistance based on the ownership of African governments, through joint works with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and other relevant Ministries/Organizations.
Focus
Under the pillar of “Poverty Reduction through Economic Growth” in Africa, Japan focuses on Agriculture / rural development and private sector development / promotion of trade and industry as growth engine. In this context, transport and power sectors have been Japan’s focused areas so far.
During Prime Minister Koizumi’s visit to AU Headquarters in Ethiopia, he reaffirmed Japan’s support to NEPAD and named a few NEPAD STAP projects as possible assistance to be considered.
Instruments
In addition to administering grant aid, MoFA facilitates the combination of other ODA modalities of Technical Assistance (JICA) and Yen Loan (JBIC).
Major Achievements
In collaboration with JICA and JBIC, MoFA has identified 7 possible NEPAD STAP projects. One of them has already been implemented (see JBIC’s page on this website).