Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is set to embark on a landmark tour of Africa in late April, aimed at strengthening investment and diplomatic ties with the continent. This will be Kishida’s first trip to Africa as Japan’s Prime Minister, and he aims to deepen mutual cooperation with African countries in key areas including trade, investment, climate change and security. Kishida’s tour is expected to further cement Japan’s role as a strategic partner to African countries, and boost economic growth and people-to-people exchanges between Japan and the continent.
The Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, is planning to visit Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, and Mozambique at the end of April to discuss ways to enhance cooperation between the continent of Africa and the group of seven advanced economies in the world (G7), which is currently headed by Japan. Government spokesperson Hirokazu Matsuno announced the upcoming tour of Africa during a press conference in Tokyo, indicating that it would occur during the Golden Week vacation period leading up to the upcoming G7 Summit, which is scheduled to take place in Hiroshima, Japan from May 19-21.
Matsuno stated that “cooperation with key African countries to address international issues is significant for Japan.” The Japanese government has long demonstrated an interest in boosting investment and development aid to the African continent. In December 2015, Prime Minister Kishida advocated for the African Union (AU) to be given a permanent seat in the group of the world’s 20 largest economies (G20) to reflect the continent’s growing economic might and demographic weight. Partnership with Africa is critical for Japan in its quest to counter the influence of its powerful rival, China.
At the 8th Tokyo International Conference of African Development (TICAD-8) held in August 2022 in Tunis, Japan announced $30 billion in investments in Africa over three years aimed to support economic growth, infrastructure development, education, human resource development, and job creation. The investments also aim to counter the influence of China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) that has attracted a host of African countries into its orbit. To this end, Japan is collaborating with private and public institutions to fund crucial infrastructure projects across Africa. Also, Japan is training over 300,000 Africans in sectors including agriculture, medicine, and professional skills to support the skill development of the African workforce.
The forthcoming visit by Kishida to Africa is part of a broader push for collaboration between Japan and Africa, which has been rapidly growing. A recent report by the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) indicated that over 70% of Japanese firms in Africa consider the continent a critical part of their global strategy, with many expressing satisfaction with the ease of doing business there. The report found that African markets offer appealing opportunities due to their rising spending power and sizable labor force.
During his upcoming African tour, Kishida hopes to take advantage of these opportunities and strengthen cooperation between Japan and Africa. The Prime Minister’s visit comes at a critical period where Africa is seeking to boost growth and development through effective partnerships and access to global value chains. With the shared goal of economic growth and development across the globe, it is hoped that Kishida’s visit will provide the African continent with much-needed development support while enabling Japan to expand its economic footprint across Africa.
