From: barnhart@gagme.chi.il.us (Mr. Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS: AFRICA: Japan to increase development aid
Originator: barnhart@gagme
Organization: Evanston, Illinois, U.S.A.
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1992 03:44:46 GMT

Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Area: Opecna Morning Transmission
Title: AFRICA: Japan to increase development aid


tokyo, oct 8 (ips/suvendrini kakuchi) -- japan is expected to
increase its official development assistance (oda) to africa in
the next few years, at a time when recession-hit western donors
are cutting their aid to the region.

noriyuki shikata, a foreign ministry official, has confirmed
tokyo's plans expand aid to africa, which accounted for 11
percent of its 11.3 billion dollar oda budget last year.

''i doubt there will be dramatic increases in value terms, but
japan is definitely showing a desire to increase its current
official assistance to africa,'' said economist yasuko tenno of
the institute of developing economies.

japanese foreign minister michio watanabe had stressed the
need to increase economic assistance to africa in a speech before
the united nations last month.

tokyo will be hosting an african development conference next
may to discuss how japan can enhance bilateral ties with african
nations and help in their economic recovery and development.

the meeting will be attended by representatives from sub-
saharan countries, major aid donors, the united nations and other
international agencies.

u.n. figures show japan has generally been the second largest
aid donor to sub-saharan africa in recent years, after france.

experts say japan's plan to give more aid reflects its desire
to play a bigger role in africa. they say this is tokyo's answer
to calls from the united nations and the united states for japan
to give a bigger slice of its huge aid pie to the region.

''up till now africa received assistance more as a moral duty.
but with the west now facing an economic crunch, japan feels it
cannot continue giving the same meagre contributions as in the
past,'' said hiroshi okuma, professor of african studies at seijo
university.

japanese aid to poor african nations was used mainly for the
development of infrastructure, education and health. new aid
contributions, which could climb another two or three percent,
are likely to be concentrated on the same areas.

tokyo also plans to give more aid for anti-pollution and anti-
desertification projects. in the past year, japan has given 120
million dollars in assistance to drought-stricken african states.

but japanese aid to african countries will be linked to their
respect of the democratic principles and the establishment of
market economies, as stressed in the latest oda charter released
by the ministry of foreign affairs this week. (more/ips)


africa: japan (2)

''unlike in asia, japan's bargaining position is strong with
african states,'' said okuma.

he said economic concerns and guilt over japan's past
colonisation of asian countries make them different to african
states.

but okuma said japan could be accused by african states of
being ''unfair'' because of its reluctance to impose sanctions on
asian nations like china and indonesia, despite western criticism
of their human rights violations.

faced with its own economic difficulties, japan has indicated
that fellow asian countries will get priority in aid. around 60
percent of japanese development assistance goes to asia.

japan and other donors in the organisation for economic
cooperation and development (oecd) refrained from pledging new
aid to kenya last year because of alleged human rights abuses and
corruption. kenya had been the biggest recipient of japanese aid.

with the election of zambian president fredrick chiluba in
october last year, japan pledged 3.5 billion dollars in non-
project loans to his country in may.

''these are clear cut cases. but japan will take care to carry
out policy dialogues with each african state when following our
post-cold war oda pro-democracy guidelines,' said shikata.
demilitarisation efforts in uganda and mozambique will be
rewarded with more official assistance, he added.

apart from the new oda charter, old problems such as political
turmoil, bureaucratic inefficiency and corruption will continue
to be major obstacles to further aid increases to the region.

shikata said aid has to be geared towards development. if this
is not possible, there is no way japan will give more, he added.

this is a common view held by japanese companies. despite
africa's wealth of natural resources, there are few japanese
investments in the region, except for south africa.

in kenya, for example, there are only seven japanese companies
stationed in the country because of social unrest.

experts say africa will have to get over its 'poor and
hopeless' image to ensure a steady flow of development assistance
from japan. (end/ips/ie/sk/ln/92)