Activities and Initiatives by Region

Africa


Efforts to Fight COVID-19 and Support Innovative Local Businesses

Growth of Economies Seriously Hit

Recent years have seen a significant improvement of the situation surrounding poverty and social development in Africa. The region has also been experiencing a number of leapfrog phenomena, where cutting-edge digital technology brings about a giant leap forward. These are highlighted by the rapid spread of mobile phones over the past 10 years, as well as the development and wider use of mobile money.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 had infected more than four million people and killed over 100,000 in the African Continent (as of April 2021, according to the Africa CDC's website). The pandemic had a great impact on societies and economies in this region as well. Faltering exports of primary commodities and flagging tourism are taking a heavy toll on national finances and employment. They are also making it difficult to secure medical materials and equipment and other necessities, much of which are dependent on imports.

Supporting Infectious Disease Control and Assisting Private Firms in Solving Social Issues

Given these circumstances, JICA continued to work toward achieving the three pillars of “economy,” “society,” and “peace and stability” based on the priority issues identified at the Seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD7). JICA delivered development cooperation of various kinds to support partner countries in overcoming the pandemic and working toward recovery.

For example, JICA had provided materials and equipment to fight the pandemic, including those for testing and protection, to more than 19 countries as of April 2021. It also extended ODA Loans to help meet emergency needs for public finance. In addition, JICA worked on building testing and diagnostic capacities in cooperation with the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) in Ghana, the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), and other research centers in the region with which JICA has long cooperated in infectious disease control. At one point in time, NMIMR and KEMRI accounted for as much as 80% and 50%, respectively, of the total numbers of PCR tests conducted in their respective countries. Now these two research institutes are playing a central role in fighting the pandemic in these and neighboring countries. Most notably, they are contributing to the development of human resources for infection control in adjacent countries.

JICA also carried out activities that capitalized on the vitality and innovativeness of private companies in Africa. For example, JICA launched Project NINJA (Next Innovation with Japan) to support startups from 19 African countries that create innovative business models and technologies. It also made a public call for proposals that addressed development issues for Africa by leveraging digital transformation (DX). In addition, JICA conducted a survey for promoting the use of a national digital identity system.

Ghana: JICA invited 15 people to NMIMR in Ghana from neighboring West African countries to offer training for building the testing capacity for infectious diseases as part of its cooperation that helps partner countries fight COVID-19.

The number of PCR tests NMIMR in Ghana conducted from February 2020 to May 2021 and its share in the national total

Activities and Initiatives by Region