"GFJ Commentary" introduces news analyses andopinions in Japan on the relations of Japan with therest of the world, but they do not represent the views ofGFJ as an institution.

August 16, 2013

The Arrival of a New Era for the Japan‐Africa
Relations?
By MUTSUJI Shoji
The fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V) was
held in Yokohama on June 1. TICAD, which started in 1993 and is held every five years,
is among the largest international conferences that the Japanese government hosts
periodically to invite heads of state from more than 50 African countries, Westerncountries, international organizations and NGOs. I remember being surprised at how
little the Japanese press covered TICAD (for example, small space of newspaperarticles) in 1993, when I was a university student who just started to study Africa. It
symbolized how poor Japanese interest in Africa was at that time. The end of the Cold
War in 1989 triggered Japan and Africa approaching each other. Before that, communistand capitalist states had “aid races” in Africa to secure as many allies as possible.
However, the end of the Cold War caused strategic aid for Africa to become lessimportant. In addition, former communist countries introduced democratization andfree market economy and could not afford to support Africa. Former capitalist countries,“the victor of the Cold War,” started to reduce aid for Africa due to “aid fatigue” causedby financial burden. At that time, in contrast, Japan was in the prime of bubble economy.
Japan had no need to eliminate aid for Africa and as a result, the presence of Japan inAfrica became relatively large. This caused African countries to approach Japan.
Meanwhile, Africa was basically a distant area to Japan not only geographically
but also economically and politically. The reason why Japan started to approach Africa
in that situation was that our country had expectations for Africa. Japan thought of not
only securing resources but also of securing African support for becoming a permanent
member on the United Nations Security Council. These benefits for Japan triggered
TICAD being held for the first time in 1993. However, Japan’s approach to Africa via
TICAD was basically modest for good or bad. That is, on the whole, the focus of TICAD
was how to realize African development and peace rather than Japan’s benefits. Thiswas because the Japanese government, especially the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
avoided prioritizing Japan’s economic benefits in its approach to Africa.

Until the late 1980s, Japan had the policy of “separating politics from economy”
and hardly intervened with the domestic affairs of foreign countries. As a result, ourcountry continued trades with South Africa, which underwent economic sanctions by
the United Nations because of its apartheid. However, African countries condemned
Japan for its policy at the United Nations General Assembly in 1988, which triggered
Japan changing its policy and joining economic sanctions. This caused the Japanese
government to shift its approach to Africa from a focus on national interests tocooperation for Africa. That is, the Japanese government began to think of altruistic
approach in an effort to remove its bad impressions because of highlighting nationalinterests. What is discussed at TICAD is in line with the Millennium Development
Goals, which was adopted by the United Nations in 2000, and is intended to promoteinternational cooperation for reducing poverty in Africa and promoting peace. The
recent increase in resource prices triggered growing interest in Africa as “the lastfrontier” and in this situation, emerging economies as well as Western countries areactively expanding into the African market. China, India and Brazil hold conferences
similar to TICAD. Those conferences are attended by business persons, as well asgovernments, international organizations and NGOs, and are a kind of major businessmeetings. Amidst an unprecedented African boom, both Western countries andemerging economies aim to secure economic benefits in Africa. In comparison with it,
TICAD’s approach is, on the whole, modest.
This is related to Japanese companies’ poor interest in Africa. Many people ofJapanese embassies in Africa lament that even if they encourage Japanese companies
to expand into the African market, many companies hesitate to because they are afraidof country risks, such as poverty, political corruption, poor infrastructure and low
standard of public safety. As the terrorism in Algeria this January shows, terrorism isremarkably spreading in the African continent as well and this is one of the factors that
discourage Japan from investing in Africa. Anyway, through TICAD, Japan has
succeeded in promoting a gentlemanly image in Africa instead of an image of a country
that greedily pursues its own national interests. However, in the current situation inwhich Japan can no longer lavishly provide abundant aid, it is necessary to reconsider
investments that can lead to local economic growth and increase in income as part ofinternational cooperation.
(This is the English translation of an article written by MUTSUJI Shoji, Lecturer,
Yokohama City University, which originally appeared on the e‐Forum ʺGiron ‐Hyakushutsuʺ of GFJ on June 4, 2013.)