Executive Leadership Program for government officials of 11 African countries was implemented.

Program Title："Executive Leadership Program for Government Officials in Africa"
Date：January 27, 2025 ~ February 3, 2025
Implementing institutions：Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), International University of Japan (IUJ)
Location：IUJ Tokyo Office, JICA Kojimachi Headquarters, etc.

Eleven government officials from Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Uganda and Zambia

In a world of complex crises, it is necessary to have the ability to understand the ideas from experts in various fields, while also having the ability to bridge the barriers of fields that arise due to the deepening of expertise. In addition, it is necessary to have the ability to make decisions from a broad perspective, to look ahead to the future of the country, to engage in dialogue with the international community, and to take the lead in administrative organizations.

JICA has been conducting a variety of technical training programs for government officials in developing countries, and there are now many former participants who have acquired specific skills and are now promoted as high-ranking government officials. On the other hand, in order to take the initiative in the administrative organization and play an active role, it is necessary to acquire skills specialized in leadership.

For this backdrop, JICA invited high-ranking government officials from African countries to Japan for the first time in its kind of initiative, the " Executive Leadership Program for Government Officials in Africa ". This program is also a follow-up to JICA Development Studies Program, and also contributes to the development of a network of intellectuals and pro-Japanese government officials.

This training was conducted based on the following three objectives.

On the first day of the program, Mr. Naoki YANASE, Director General of JICA Africa Department, welcomed the participants and thanked them for their participation, and emphasized the three objectives of the program and the fact that it was JICA's first initiative, and expressed his hope that the participants would serve as a bridge to deepen the relationship between African countries and Japan in the future.

After the opening remarks, Mr. Naoki MINE, Senior Deputy Director of JICA Africa Department Planning and TICAD Process Division, took the stage to talk about JICA's cooperation to Africa. The participants asked many questions about the content of the explanation and exchanged various opinions about JICA's cooperation to their countries.

Half of the program consists of lectures by Prof. Takeo KIKKAWA, IUJ President and Prof. Hiroshi KATO, IUJ Vice President and other faculty members of the IUJ, including lectures on leadership theory, Japan's development experience, public-private partnerships, etc. and a lecture on partnership between Japan and Africa centered on TICAD by H.E. Toshihiko HORIUCHI, Director General of the African Affairs Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Participants expressed their desire to utilize approaches such as "5S-Kaizen" and "adopt and adapt," which have greatly contributed to the development of Japan, in policymaking and daily operations in their own countries. In each lecture, there was a lively question-and-answer session between the participants and the lecturers, and it was a time for high-ranking officials from various countries to learn from each other.

In addition to lectures on policymaking and Japan's development, the participants also exchanged opinions and visited the private sector, which played an important role in Japan's development. From Keidanren, we invited Ms. Teruko WADA, Director, International Affairs Bureau of Keidanren and Mr. Yoshihisa NOMURA, Deputy Director, International Cooperation Bureau of Keidanren, to hear their evaluations of Japan's policies as representatives of industry and to exchange views on areas that the private sector should focus on in Africa in the future.　

In addition to exchanging opinions with Keidanren, participants visited the Industrial Heritage Information Center, where they can learn about the changes in Japan's private sector, and Impact HUB Tokyo, an incubation facility that supports startups in Japan.

One of the features of this program was a design approach workshop by Laere Co., Ltd.

The design approach in this workshop was to touch on the axis of each person's life through a deep dialogue with a small number of people, and to take advantage of that relationship to envision the future based on uncertain signs rather than an extension of the present, and then discuss the present. It was a bit different from the workshops that had been held in many previous trainings, and it was a more practical and participatory training.

Volunteers from JICA also participated in the workshop and engaged in dialogue with African officials on an equal footing, and at the end of the workshop, they shared their expectations for the future of Japan and Africa.

On the final day of the evaluation session, Mr. Naoki ANDO, JICA Senior Vice President, once again expressed his gratitude to the participants, and said that this year is a special year for TICAD9 to be held, and he is hoping that the participants will play a key role in deepening relations with Japan for the develop and progress of Africa beyond TICAD9 in line with the Agenda 2063 set forth by the African Union. He also exchanged views on African development and JICA’s cooperation in response to questions from the participants.

At the end of the session, the participants expressed their gratitude to JICA and IUJ for planning and implementing the program, shared their expectations for the future program, and reflected on what they learned over the past week.

In preparation for TICAD9 to be held in Yokohama in August this year, JICA will continue to promote cooperation with Africa while approaching African leaders and strengthening relationships.