Wed, 28 Aug 2019
Yokohama – Japanese private investment in Africa has reached US $ 20 billion over the last three years, Prime Minister Shinzu Abe announced on Wednesday.
Speaking at the opening of the 7th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 7), the head of the Japanese government said it is his country’s desire to increase and promote investment in Africa.
He highlighted the financing made in Angola in the field of telecommunications, by enabling the acquisition of equipment and services for the installation of Angola Cables fiber optic cable, which allows the interconnection of the Atlantic.
In addition to Angola, he also spoke of other infrastructure projects that the Japanese are supporting in Uganda and Rwanda.
Japan’s support for Africa is not limited to infrastructure, Shinzu Abe has promised new education projects for a real transformation of secondary and primary education.
The Japanese will also train experts in the field of energy and projects to combat the effects of climate change.
In the health sector, they will make new funding available to the global fund.
Another area of intervention in which Japan intends to act is that of peace and stability in Africa, hence promising to work with the African Union on conflict prevention on the continent.
At the opening address, UN Secretary-General António Gueterres and Acting President of the African Union Abdel Al Sisi also addressed the importance of increasing investment on the continent for its development.
African Union Commission President Moussa Faqui has asked Japanese authorities and companies for innovative solutions to Africa’s development.
He underlined that the cradle continent is “on the move” despite conflict and Ebola virus problems.
He called on Japanese businessmen to meet the expectations set by TICAD6 by investing heavily in the African continent.
“Our project is the shutting down of arms by 2020,” he concluded.
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