TANAKA Akihiko

On June 3, 2013, the Fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V), which started on June 1, came to close. The "Yokohama Declaration 2013" and the "Yokohama Action Plan 2013-2017" were adopted as a result of the conference. From May 31 to June 3, 19 seminars on the theme: "Inclusive and Dynamic Development in Africa" were held by JICA as an official event of TICAD V. JICA will further its support to Africa based on Japan's assistance package announced by Government of Japan during the conference.

1. Adoption of Yokohama Declaration 2013 and Yokohama Action Plan 2013-2017

On June 3, 2013, the Fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V) came to a close. In this conference which started on June 1, the "Yokohama Declaration 2013" and the "Yokohama Action Plan 2013-2017" were adopted. These documents indicated, under the three pillars which are "robust and sustainable economy", "inclusive and resilient society", and "peace and stability", six key strategic approaches as the direction of development in Africa for the coming five years: (1) promoting private sector-led growth, (2) accelerating infrastructure development, (3) empowering farmers as mainstream economic actors, (4) promoting sustainable and resilient growth, (5) creating an inclusive society for growth, and (6) consolidating peace, stability and good governance. Participants of TICAD V including African nations and other partners agreed to aim at the realization of these goals through joint and concerted actions.

JICA will contribute to the assistance package of TICAD V such as financial support in total of 6.5 billion USD to accelerate infrastructure development, strengthening of human resources by training 30,000 African people for industrial development, improving the learning environment for 20 million African children through mathematics and science education and primary school management, and to increase agricultural production and productivity, especially for rice cultivation, and to promote a "farming as business" approach for 50,000 small farmers.

2. 19 seminars held towards inclusive and dynamic development in Africa

From May 31 to June 3, JICA held 19 seminars as official events of TICAD V on inclusive and dynamic development in Africa. There were lively discussions in the seminars on how to realize effective responses concerning industrial development, promotion of trade and investment, as well as other challenges such as employment, health, education, peace and stability, environmental issues, and others.

On June 2, the second day of the conference, JICA organized a seminar series with the theme of "Economic Transformation of Africa" with the recognition that for Africa's surging economy, the most important theme in order to promote sustainable development is to create employment for young people and develop human resources, as well as to diversify the economic structure by promoting industrial development.

For the first theme of "industrial development", the results of joint research undertaken through cooperation between the JICA Research Institute and Columbia University's Initiative for Policy Dialogue (IPD) were presented by Nobel Laureate in economics, Professor Joseph Stiglitz and others. The second theme of "youth employment" was a panel discussion including three heads of state: Ali Bongo Ondimba, President of the Republic of Gabon, Jacob Zuma, President of the Republic of South Africa, and Jakaya Kikwete, President of the United Republic of Tanzania, in addition to panelists from the World Bank, the African Development Bank, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in which JICA President Akihiko Tanaka also joined as a panelist. Following the discussions in the seminars, JICA Senior Vice President Hideaki Domichi announced JICA's intention to make contributions to industrial development towards inclusive growth in Africa, in the next five years from TICAD V, with the emphasis on developing infrastructure, human resource for industrialization, education of mathematics and science, and market-oriented agriculture.

JICA also hosted and co-hosted a variety of seminars throughout the TICAD V conference. In addition to the seminars described above, seminars with the following themes were also held actively to promote intellectual contributions to prospects and challenges in Africa, and a vision in order to lead the international discussion. The seminars' themes were on higher education, public-private cooperation in promotion of investment, solution of development challenges and BOP business, south-south and triangular cooperation, universal health coverage (UHC), peace-building by local government, resilience under climate change, inclusive development and disabilities, corridor development, the role of development finance institutions, food security/promotion of rice production for agricultural development, challenges of African development leading up to 2050, empowerment of women, and sustainable forest management.

JICA, as the world's largest bilateral cooperation agency, and as one of the major implementing entities of the "Yokohama declaration 2013"and the "Yokohama Action Plan 2013-2017" will continue to support inclusive and dynamic development in Africa by strengthening partnership with African governments and African Union, international organizations including the United Nations and the World Bank, the private sector and civil society.

JICA Seminar Series (TICADV Official Event)

May 31

• Higher Education for Industrialization in Africa (PDF/224KB)
• NEPAD-OECD-SADC-IFC-JICA Seminar on Overcoming Challenges to Private Sector Participation in Africa's Infrastructure (PDF/364KB)
• Youth Possibility for the Future of Africa and Japan (PDF/327KB)
• Inclusive and Dynamic Development in Africa (PDF/135KB)

June 1

• A preview of the African Transformation Report: a discussion on how the state and private sector can work together to promote transformation (PDF/358KB)
• Challenges for Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in Africa (PDF/123KB)
• Bridge towards Peacebuilding by Local Government (PDF/327KB)
• BOP Business in African Countries (PDF/334KB)
• Investment strategies in Africa (PDF/288KB)
• Learning Mutually and Acting Jointly to build resilient society: Leveraging South-South and Triangular Partnership (PDF/393KB)

June 2

• Africa-Japan Dialogue on Disability (PDF/402KB)
• Economic Transformation of Africa (PDF/305KB)
• Empowering Young Africans to Live Their Dreams (PDF/337KB)
• Resilience under Climate Change (PDF/323KB)
• JICA’s Approach to Industrial Development in Africa (PDF/331KB)
• Corridor Development in Africa (PDF/241KB)

June 3

• Coalition for African Rice Development (CARD) (PDF/100KB)
• New Vision of Africa in 2050 (PDF/141KB)
• Towards Institutional and Human Capacity Building of Development Financing Institutions (DFIs) in African Countries based on Experiences in Japan and Asian Countries (PDF/345KB)

Other TICAD V Official Side Events organized by JICA

May 31

• Women’s Leadership and Economic Growth (PDF/325KB)

June 1

• Efforts to advance sustainable management of African forests (PDF/325KB)