The Sunday Mail
Darlington Musarurwa in TUNISIA
Japan yesterday announced a US$30 billion facility for Africa from which Zimbabwe expects to benefit through investments in infrastructure development, agricultural production and technology transfer, among other opportunities.
In a speech made virtually at the eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 8), Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said US$4 billion would go towards the Green Growth Initiative with Africa (GGA) to help in climate adaptation and mitigation, including assisting African countries transition to clean energy, while US$5 billion will be set aside for co-financing together with the African Development Bank (AfDB) “to improve the lives of African people”.
Start-up companies founded by innovative young entrepreneurs would also receive targeted support under a programme meant to nurture private companies to provide high value-added products and services.
A further US$1,08 billion will be channelled towards replenishing the Global Fund to fight HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria.
“At TICAD 7, Japan announced US$20 billion in financial contributions to Africa within the private sector, and we essentially achieved it over the last three years. This time, at TICAD 8, focussing on people as individuals, specifically investment in people and quality of growth, Japan is going to invest US$30 billion as the sum of public and private financial contribution over the next three years,” said PM Kishida.
“First, we will promote green growth. We are going to launch Japan’s Green Growth Initiative with Africa (GGA) and contribute US$4 billion in public and private financial contribution in total. Second, we will promote investment. In particular, we are going to focus on start-up companies in which energetic young people from Japan and Africa will be engaged.”
The Japanese Prime Minister could not travel to the summit after testing positive for Covid-19 on Sunday last week.
TICAD 8, which is held triennially, is a summit-level international conference that brings together Heads of State and Government from Africa, the government of Japan, World Bank, United Nations, as well as representatives from the private sector such as the Japan Business Federation, Japan Association of Corporate Executives, among others.
It is the second time it is being held on the continent since inception in 1993 after Kenya in 2016.
In an interview on the sidelines of the conference, Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to the African Union (AU) and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Mr Taonga Mushayavanhu, said the summit seeks to encourage investments into Africa and promote innovation and technology transfer.
“TICAD 8 will be anchored on three pillars, namely the pillar on realising structural transformation for sustainable economic growth and social development,” said Ambassador Mushayavanhu.
“This pillar will emphasise the importance of partnership between Japan and Africa to encourage investment, to promote innovation from the private sector through encouraging collaboration between Japanese and African companies and technology transfer, and the strengthening of human resources development in order to accelerate structural transformation for inclusive and sustainable growth in Africa so as to achieve the aims of (AU’s) Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”
Over the years, the country has benefited from engaging Japan through investments in key infrastructure projects such as road construction and irrigation development.
The Nyakomba Irrigation Scheme in Manicaland has been resuscitated with support from the world’s third-largest economy, while last year President Mnangagwa commissioned the first phase of the upgraded Makuti-Chirundu Road covering 6,5 kilometres, which was financed through a US$21 million grant from Japan.
Government, Ambassador Mushayavanhu added, expects to cooperate with Tokyo in several other key projects.
“We now look forward to agreements for the second phase of the Road Improvement of the Northern Part of the North-South Corridor; construction of a new bridge across Save River along the Mutare-Masvingo Road; and support to the One-Stop Border Post (OSBP) Programme at Beitbridge,” he said.
Japan’s initiative to support start-ups dovetails with President Mnangagwa’s thrust to promote innovation, particularly in tertiary institutions, by incubating ideas that can be commercially exploited in industry.
The Government has already facilitated the establishment of innovation hubs at universities such as University of Zimbabwe, National University of Science and Technology (NUST), Midlands State University (MSU) and Harare Institute of Technology (HIT), among others.
Innovation hubs and industrial parks are premised on solutions-based learning to drive the country’s modernisation and industrialisation in line with Vision 2030, which seeks to create a prosperous society within the next eight years.
Speaking at yesterday’s summit, AU chairperson and Senegalese President Macky Sall said Africa, which intends to increase agriculture production and grow its value chains, could benefit from public-private cooperation with Japan, including technology transfer and mutually beneficial cooperation.
“We want to use our resources to gain competitiveness,” he said.
“We would like to see transfer of technology . . . In Japan, innovation has been leveraged to find a new way of solving problems … We have to adapt to a new world. Our collaboration needs to be adjusted to the reality of today. We have to leverage the true meaning and partnership of TICAD …”
UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed also said the pandemic and conflict in Eastern Europe had created “a perform storm” that would put “vulnerable populations under extreme stress”.
Priority for the continent, she added, lies in promoting universal energy access, achieving food security and eliminating societal inequalities.
Discussions at TICAD 8, which ends today, are largely expected to chart the development trajectory of the continent in the post-Covid-19 pandemic era.
They mainly focus on achieving sustainable and inclusive growth with reduced inequalities, realising resilient societies based on human security, including building durable peace and stability through supporting Africa’s own efforts.
