Correction Regarding Media Coverage on “JICA Africa Hometown”
2025.08.25
In connection with JICA’s recent designation of certain Japanese cities as symbolic “JICA Africa Hometown” for partner countries in Africa — announced at the 9th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9) — several media reports and statements by an African government, including coverage from “The Tanzania Times” , “Premium Times (Nigeria)”, “Business insider Africa”, and “BBC News Pidgin”, have contained inaccuracies and potentially misleading information.
- The “JICA Africa Hometown” aims to further strengthen the relationships that each municipality has built with African countries, contributing both to addressing challenges in Africa and revitalizing local communities in Japan. At an event held on Thursday, August 21, JICA officially designated the following cities as “JICA Africa Hometowns” to promote exchanges with their respective partner countries:
- Imabari City (Ehime Prefecture) with Mozambique
- Kisarazu City (Chiba Prefecture) with Nigeria
- Sanjo City (Niigata Prefecture) with Ghana
- and Nagai City (Yamagata Prefecture) with Tanzania
Through support for collaborative events for example, JICA will continue to facilitate and strengthen international exchanges for each city.
- However, certain local newspapers and the African government have published reports that may give the false impression that, under the “JICA Africa Hometown” program, Nagai City in Yamagata Prefecture would become part of the country of Tanzania, or reports suggesting the promotion of immigration acceptance or the issuance of special visas for travel between Japan and the respective countries, which are all factually incorrect.
JICA is currently urging the relevant local media and the African government to promptly correct the inaccuracies contained in their coverage.
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