8The Japan Times Thursday, June 30, 2016

The Japan Times forum on TICAD VI

Africa outlook seeing shift from assistance to investment
The sixth Tokyo International Conference on African
Development (TICAD VI) will be held in Nairobi on Aug. 27
and 28, where political and business leaders from aroundthe world will discuss various issues facing the continent.
Over the past 23 years since TICAD I was held in Tokyo,
the conference has evolved into a new phase as theAfrican economy has grown rapidly during this time. Still,
Africa faces challenges such as income disparity andpolitical instability. TICAD VI is the first TICAD meeting to
be held outside Japan.
Ahead of the conference, The Japan Times organized a
symposium to discuss TICAD, the situation in Africa andJapan-Africa relations, at the Tokyo headquarters of The
Japan Times on June 3.
Participating in the forum were Estifanos Afeworki,ambassador of Eritrea and the dean of the African
Diplomatic Corps; Solomon Karanja Maina, ambassador of
Kenya, the host country of TICAD VI; Francois Oubida,ambassador of Burkina Faso and the chairman of the ADC
TICAD Committee; Seiji Okada, deputy director-general,
African Affairs Department, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
Jin Montesano, executive officer and senior managing
director, Public Relations and Corporate Responsibility, LixilGroup Corp.; and Atsuko Hirooka, executive officer,
Environmental Health Division, Animal Nutrition Division,
Sumitomo Chemical Co. The moderator was Takashi
Kitazume, chief editorial writer for The Japan Times.
Below are excerpts of their discussion:Moderator: Thank you everyone forjoining The Japan Times forum on
TICAD VI, to be held in Kenya in
August. The purpose of this round-tablediscussion is to generate readers’ interest in the latest TICAD, which has been
hosted in Japan since 1993 and will beheld for the first time in Africa, by providing hands-on perspective from theparties involved.
How has the role and significance of
the TICAD evolved over the years?
What will be the significance of themeeting being held in Africa?
Maina: Let me first say it’s a pleasure to
be invited to this important dialog session. The forming of TICAD 23 years ago,
a prudent step taken by Japan, cameamid world fatigue of African issues, socalled “donor fatigue,” following the endof Cold War. And by TICAD II, the meeting was becoming a multilateral platform
bringing key agents on board.
By the time of TICAD III, a Tokyo
Agenda for Africa was agreed upon andwe set a plan on African development
over five years. Five years is rather long,
but we had to start it, given the fact since
there are so many aspects of African
development.
In TICAD IV, which was held in Yokohama, the focus was engagement of theprivate sector into African development.
We looked more into the issue of industrialization, while the issues of improving
governance and democratization became
apparent. All in all, there was a generalconsensus that Africa was the next frontier as countries such as Brazil, Russia,
India, and China (BRICS) were shining ina different platform. But the African continent was slowly moving on.
At TICAD V, also in Yokohama, a defining moment came as heads of state cameto realize that Africa had to be considered
as an equal partner. This was very important and the decision that TICAD VI
would be held in Africa was very significant in two aspects.
The first aspect is about partnership.
Africa and Japan are partners working

Solomon Karanja Maina, ambassador of Kenya: Born in 1960, Maina
obtained his bachelor’s degree in political science at the University of
Wisconsin and a master’s degree ininternational affairs at Ohio University. Since then, he has been a diplomat for his entire 29-year career. He
began working as a third secretary
for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
Kenya in 1987 and has been assigned to embassies in Britain, Pakistan, Uganda and Italy before
becoming the ambassador to Japan
in 2014.

together under one platform. We aremoving away from official development
assistance (ODA) and instead encouraging the private sector’s participation foreconomic development. The second
aspect is ownership.
We are glad that many Japanese companies have already registered to participate in TICAD VI in Nairobi. Three Banks– Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp.,
Mizuho Bank and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ – will also be in Nairobi forthis important Summit.

Participants and a moderator (center) pose before their discussion on the sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD VI) to be held in Kenya in
August at The Japan Times’ offices in Tokyo on June 3. yoshiaki miura

Okada: First of all, I thank you for organizing this round-table session. I think it’svery important to let people know what
TICAD is about and what we are thinking
about.
TICAD started in 1993. At that time it
was Japan’s commitment to discuss how
Japan should work with Africa because
the African continent is an importantregion. That’s why we began TICAD to
discuss plans and the long-term strategyof African development.
At TICAD IV, which was held in 2008, I
was the director of the African Development Division and in charge of organizing TICAD IV in Yokohama. And as
Ambassador Maina said, I saw thechange in the focus of the agenda. At
TICAD II, the focus was how to allocate
ODA to each country, but throughout
preparatory meetings of TICAD IV in
Africa, I heard many voices from Africancountries saying that for real economic
development, private sector involvement
is important.
Indeed, private sector investment isvery important and the focus on it seen at
TICAD V will continue at TICAD VI.
It’s the right path to work with the private sector and many stakeholders rather
than just governments.
One of the most important things
about TICAD is the TICAD process.
TICAD is not a one-time commitment
and a follow-up mechanism is important.

Afeworki: To tackle those important
issues, Africa needs to be first and foremost developed and become stronger
economically. But let me first say, what
can Africa offer in return for the cooperation it gets from the outside world —especially from Japan’s private sector
investment.
First, Africa is a very strategicallylocated continent, with access from theMediterranean Sea to Europe, the Indian
Ocean to Asia and Australia, the Red Sea
to the Middle East and the Atlantic Ocean
to the Americas. This continent can continue to offer opportunities for any economy, especially Japan, to step into themarket of the above-mentioned regions
and the fast-growing economy of the continent itself. Second, Africa is endowedwith abundant resources such as oil, gas,rare metals, precious metals, base metals,
construction materials and industrial

chemicals, offering the possibility forJapan to be a good partner both upstream
and downstream. Third, Africa has huge
untapped agricultural, marine and biodiversity resources that have a cardinal rolein many development areas of mutualinterest.
The main challenge in most Africancountries is how to develop and enhance
the rule of law. The question of how to
train police, improve the legal and justicesystems, capacity building in governanceand other issues remain a challenge.
Japan can share its huge technology-supported experiences on these and otherrelated issues with our countries. Education is also another high-value asset ofJapanese soft power that can be sharedwith our African countries.
Africa is also facing new health challenges especially from threats of continued epidemics caused by the migrationof unknown virus, bacteria, fungi andprotozoan microorganisms to humanbeings from wild plants and animals andtheir habitats. Ebola virus is one example.
As a result of these phenomenon, humansecurity is seriously being threatened
globally. Therefore, it is imperative at thistime that research cooperation between
higher education institutions of Africa
and Japan be developed. Capacity building of the health sector is also a priority
for cooperation in the African Agenda.
Japan has a lot of successful experiencesin this area of cooperation within Asia
which can be replicated and exported to
African countries.
Agenda 2063 focuses on the integration and economic empowerment of thecontinent. Sustainable development
goals and national development goals of
all African countries are naturally thebasis for cooperation through the TICAD
process.
As an example, Sumitomo Chemical
Co. has developed a long-lasting insecticidal net to both repel and kill mosquitoes, contributing to malaria eradicationin many of our countries.
I strongly believe, there are many moreareas of cooperation and various oppor-

Seiji Okada, deputy director-general,
African Affairs Department, Ministryof Foreign Affairs: Born in 1956, heentered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
after graduating from Meiji University
Law School. In 2007, he was assigned
to the Middle Eastern and African Affairs Bureau, and in 2009 he wastransferred to the Japanese Embassyin Kenya. He then moved to the Japanese Embassy in Afghanistan in 2010
and the Japanese Consulate Generalin Vancouver, Canada, in 2012. In
March, he moved back to the Middle
Eastern and African Affairs Bureau.

Estifanos Afeworki Haile, ambassadorof Eritrea: Born in 1947 in Asmara, Eritrea, he studied science at Haile Selassie University, majoring in physics
and minoring in chemistry and commercial pilot training in EAL (Ethiopia).
Joined Eritrean Peoples Liberation
Front (EPLF) in 1971 and served the
movement in different capacities ofleadership: political, economic, military and diplomatic. As a parliament
member, he headed finance, trade andindustry, civil aviation, communications and transport after Eritrean independence. Posted to Tokyo since 2003.

Francois Oubida, ambassador of
Burkina Faso: Upon graduating from
National School of Public Administration, obtaining a bachelor’s degree in 1982, he became the first
secretary of the Embassy of Burkina
Faso in Havana, Cuba, in 1984. He
then took various diplomatic positions, including minister counselor to
the Permanent Mission of Burkina
Faso to the United Nations. He assumed the current position as theambassador of Burkina Faso to
Japan, South Korea, Singapore and
the Philippines in 2011.

Moderator: How does Japan see theevolution of TICAD?

The mechanism takes a three-tiered
approach of a joint secretariat, a joint
monitoring system and follow-up administration meetings. This continuing process allows us to check what progress has
been made.
TICAD VI is taking place just three
years after TICAD V, but it’s a very significant meeting. It’s the first one held in
Africa and African ownership and international partnership are two importantpillars of TICAD.
I just hope that the meeting in Nairobi
will be successful. Of course we continue
to talk about past commitments, but since
TICAD V, there have been a couple of new
emerging issues such as dropping commodity prices, health issues such as Ebola
and other diseases and instability in society. We have to discuss how to tackle
these issues in the coming meeting.
Moderator: How does Africa tackle
issues included in Agenda 2063 such as
diversification of industries, reducing
reliance on natural resources, humanresource development, antiterrorism
measures and improvement in healthhygiene conditions?

PAGE: 8tunities for a win-win situation between
Japan and Africa.
Oubida: Africa came up with Agenda
2063 in 2013, the 50th anniversary year of
the African Union, creating a vision of“the Africa we want” in 50 years.
Agenda 2063 has seven targets. These
are a prosperous Africa based on inclusive
growth and sustainable development; anintegrated continent, politically united
and based on the ideals of Pan-Africanism and the vision of Africa’s Renaissanceand an Africa of good governance,
democracy, respect for human rights, justice and the rule of law. The remaining
targets are a peaceful and secure Africa;
an Africa with a strong cultural identity,common heritage, shared values and ethics, a continent whose development ispeople-driven, relying on the potential of
African people, especially its women andyouth, and caring for children; and a continent that is a strong, united and influential global player and partner.
For the future, Africa will continue tofocus on health, governance, educationand peace.
Over the past couple of decades, thepeace situation in Africa has generally
improved and we have prepared ourenvironment for economic development.
Thanks to activities within the African
Union, we have put into place a peace
structure where we have built security. If
conflicts take place somewhere, we haveenough resources and experience to calm
the situation.
On health issues, in 2006 we adopted
the Maputo Plan of Action, which isintended to curb maternal death in Africa
and focus on delivering quality andaffordable health services to promote
safe motherhood, child survival andmaternal, newborn and child health.
Without an improvement in the health ofbabies, children and mothers, we cannot
have a healthy society.
More than 40 countries in Africa
implemented CARMMA (Campaign onan Accelerated Reduction of Maternal
Mortality in Africa.)

Jin Montesano, executive officer
and senior managing director, Public
Relations and Corporate Responsibility, LIXIL Group Corporation:
Based in Tokyo, she oversees global
corporate communications, brandmanagement and corporate responsibility. She is also a director of theBoard of the Permasteelisa Group, a
LIXIL Group subsidiary. She has over
18 years of experience in government and senior global corporate
management. She holds a B.A. from
Columbia University and an M.A.
from Princeton University.

The vision of CARMMA is to build on
existing efforts to improve maternal,
newborn and child health across Africa— particularly by sharing best practices
and generating and sharing data on
maternal, newborn and children’s health.
In education, Africa has many universities partnered with foreign institutions
and sends many students overseas. They
learn and bring back their experience totheir home countries. Japan is among thebest such partners and students serve as
bridges between Africa and Japan.
Moderator: Everybody said private sector involvement is important. I would
like to turn to representatives from two
Japanese companies in attendance,
Lixil Group Corp. and Sumitomo
Chemical Co., to speak about theiractivities in Africa contributing to
improving the health and hygiene conditions on the continent.
Montesano: Let me first introduce LixilGroup. Lixil is the world’s largest company in sanitary products. Among themost well-known brands are Inax, Groheand American Standard. We have a presence in 150 countries.
We are proud of our water technology,
which is the business of moving water
through shower heads, faucet systems,
bath systems and toilets. One of our moststrategic initiatives is specifically improving health and hygiene by helping people
gain access to basic sanitation.
I was very pleased to hear the ambassadors speak about Agenda 2063 because
the state of the world today is that we still
have 2.4 billion people without properbasic sanitation.
And economic losses due to the lack ofsanitation are over $200 billion annually.
Today, seven in 10 people are still lacking
basic sanitation in the Sub-Saharan African region, and the rate of population
growth is outpacing the rate of access tobasic sanitation, making the situationeven more pressing.
So we have a program in which we areContinued on page 9

Atsuko Hirooka, executive officer,
Health & Crop Sciences Sector, Environmental Health Division, Animal
Nutrition Division, Sumitomo Chemical Co.: She joined Sumitomo Chemical in 2006 after working for a German
capitalized chemical company. She
has contributed to the Vector Control
business since then, and has been inher current position since April. She
has long been involved with Africa as
she serves as a board member of Vector Health International Ltd. in Tanzania and a board member of Sumitomo
Chemical East Africa Ltd.

The Japan Times Thursday, June 30, 2016 9

The Japan Times forum on TICAD VI
Continued from page 8

developing different prototypes of possible devices and actual products thatserve communities requiring basic sanitation.
We have a team of R&D researchers in
Nairobi prototyping and trying devices
that could be useful. We have on the market a product called SaTo Pan, which isshort for safe toilet. This is a basic product, selling for as little as $2, dependingon the model, and developed in New Jersey. We have sold over 900,000 units,
which means 4 million individuals havebeen impacted. We expect the figure topass a million units by July.
This is a program we are proud of and
we are excited about being part of TICAD
this year. Our CEO is tremendously committed to activating investment and presence of interest in Africa to support
economic development and accelerate
sanitation and hygiene.
I am also excited to hear from ambassadors how companies like Lixil can contribute to their economies, sanitation andhygiene.
Hirooka: Thank you very much. Sumitomo Chemical has contributed tomalaria prevention by providing mosquito nets over the last 10 plus years. The
product name is Olyset.
On WHO’s recommendation in 2001,
we decided in 2003 to transfer the technology to an African country.
WHO evaluated the net and concluded
it is very effective, affordable and easy to
use as it just hangs from the ceiling. Thenthe WHO proposed we transfer the technology to Africa because people are suffering from malaria in Africa. Acumen(New York-based non-profit organization), UNICEF and PSI (non-profit organizations based in Washington D.C.)
supported the transfer, and thus wequickly decided to do so.
Acumen found the partner, A to Z Textile Mills, in Tanzania, and we sent Japanese engineers to transfer the technology.
Four years later, we decided to set up a
joint venture, called Vector Health Inter-

TICAD V was held in Yokohama in 2013. flickr

national, because we thought we needed
to increase production. Fortunately, we
have been able to maintain a long relationship with them for them more than
10 years.
Last year, science magazine Nature
published an article on various interventions to prevent malaria, including medicine, but mosquito nets account for 68
percent of the reduction, meaning 663
million malaria cases have been reduced.
We are very proud of that.
Currently, Tanzania factories have

7,000 workers at peak time and production capacity is 29 million nets annually.
This is very good when you look at the
U.N.’s Millennium Development Goals.
Our activities meet the primary purposeof reducing malaria, but at the same time
we are decreasing child mortality,
improving pregnant women’s health,increasing employment and reducing
poverty in Tanzania.
Another challenge is to tackle an issue
of insecticide-resistant mosquitoes. So
we need an R&D center in Africa. Twoyears ago, we set up a laboratory inAfrica, staffed by Tanzanians and
Kenyans, and we are exchanging
researchers between Japan and Africa.
Also two years ago, we established
Sumitomo Chemical East Africa office inTanzania to research agriculture. Because
we are a chemical company with an agrochemical division, we are targeting the
agrochemical business in 10-years time.
The purpose is not just a one-time
investment but to need to establish a sustainable business.

youth. This generation is innovative andthey are becoming entrepreneurs. You
do recall last year that President Obama
brought the Global Entrepreneurship
Summit to Africa. Why did he do that?
It’s because they were looking at aniche. And that niche was the youth.
Given that half of Africa’s population is
youth we are calling upon Japanesecompanies to look at that niche.
The service industry is growing very
fast. In fact, you will find that in certain
countries GDP is being led by the service industry. And the service industry
is people. So we are telling Japanesecompanies that there is a whole array ofactivities that they can concentrate on.
The middle class in Africa is booming.
So they need to look at the areas of consumables. If they are looking into theconstruction of malls, there are people
who are ready to utilize those capacities.
So there are many activities in which
Japanese companies can be involved.
The fact that three Japanese banks will
be in Nairobi says much. Because wherebanks go, that’s where the money is. So
I’m hoping this single element is sending
a strong signal to Japanese companies
about what’s happening in Africa.
Everyone is there and you’re losing
out. You need to show more aggression
and move into a very competitive arena.

hide it in our pocket or in a safe,
because it needs protection, it needs
peace. Investment needs peace. In
many places, including the Middle Eastand North Africa, the wind is not as
beautiful as we want to believe. The
effort of the Japanese and the government of Japan has to be gauged toward
contributing to peace in this region.
There should be a very-much-sustainedcommitment to building peace in Africa.
Peace is very important and Japan
should play a very proactive role in acomprehensive way, because, even in
discussions in the business community,
people say, “We can’t go to Africa
because there is no peace.” At TICAD VI,
peace-building should be a major component.
Peace-building should be the pillar of
all activities. Otherwise, we will repeat
the same mistakes, the same interventions and the same situations, which
would not be beneficial. If the oil companies are going to build pipelines, if
cargo is going to be delivered properly,
it needs a very peaceful environment.
Japan has an edge because it’s the only
developed country that has never been
involved politically in Africa. Japan cancome with different proposals that could
address real issues on the continent.

the marketplace.

Infrastructure and stability are viewed as key
As the discussion continued, a clearer
picture emerged of the obstacles facing
Japanese investment in Africa. Keyamong them was the current state ofinfrastructure and the need for improving social security. Participants also
expressed their expectations for TICAD
VI and the role of TICAD in overcoming
such issues.
Moderator: Now that we have extensively discussed the kind of involvement African countries expect fromJapan and its businesses, perhaps we
can touch on your outlook for TICAD
VI, as well as on some of the barriers
facing Japanese investors.

Oubida: TICAD will be about how totransform the African economy. And it
is our expectation that we will have astrong partnership with the private sector. Our head of state will exchange
views with the private sector to see what
they can put together in a way that will
be of benefit for the countries in Africa
and for Japanese companies. It should
be a win-win situation.
We really want to see Japanese benefit
from the potential in Africa. Japan has
been the only country to try to lift Africa.
And now that we are economically of
medium size, we want Japanese to benefit from that. We should set up a mechanism for a dialogue and exchange ofviews here in Japan.
In this vein, we are proposing for
TICAD VI that, in cooperation with
Keizai Doyukai and Keidanren, we comeup with a Japan-Africa business association. If we come together, we can sortout problems and address them.
Maina: I think one of the very important
issues that we should bring into light isthat, apart from Africa being ripe forindustrialization and moving to the nextstage, we have to understand that wehave a very high literacy rate among the

Takashi Kitazume, chief editorial
writer of The Japan Times: Born in1962 in Tokyo, he joined The Japan
Times in 1986 after graduatingfrom the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies and was assigned tocover the electronics and auto industries, the Bank of Japan, the Defense Agency, which is now the
Defense Ministry, the Ministry ofForeign Affairs and national politics. After serving as domestic
news, foreign news editor andmanaging editor, he moved to hiscurrent position in 2013.

Okada: On that issue, we are very muchagain focusing on the partnership withthe private sector. So at TICAD VI, oneof the main things is that we will be traveling there with many members of theprivate sector. So far, more than 100
companies, including small andmedium enterprises, are ready to sign
up and they’re coming.
I also want to mention that althoughprivate sector investment is indeed private, we as the government support andwork with them. You mentioned theimportance of human resources in Africa,
so what we do is we invite many young
African people to come to Japan to experience being interns or learn the Japanese
language. So after they return home, they
will be really important resources for Japanese companies, as well.
Regarding infrastructure, for investment we need quality infrastructure. So
the government of Japan is very much
focusing on the quality of infrastructure.
Afeworki: Success breeds success. Thatis the way to go forward. When you talkabout sustainable development of businesses, such as Sumitomo Chemical,
trying to expand into other sectors ofactivities, into research, this is very good
progress. Of course, we have to always
be cautious. For example, if you look at
Mozambique now, it is a net exporter ofaluminum ingots. But the aluminumproducts we see here in Japan are all
manufactured here. None of them are
manufactured in Mozambique. When
we talk about industrialization, it’ssometimes like an abstract term. Creating manufacturing opportunities inAfrica is also very significant and I think
the meaning of TICAD VI is industry
and manufacturing.
Another thing I would like to comment on is peace. I always say thatmoney is a covert animal. That’s why we

Okada: Peace-building is one pillar, andone of the ways to do that is by empowering the young people and women —giving them the chance of educationand vocational training, so that they can
engage in society. And they will haveadditional value as good humanresources for society. So one area of
focus at TICAD VI should be how we
can empower these people.
Moderator: I would like to hear theviews of Ms. Montesano and Ms.
Hirooka, so that we can gain someinsight from the private sector, particularly about social stability.
Montesano: Social stability is becoming
so much more established now in Africa,

Hirooka: Regarding social stability, I
think that creating jobs on the ground isvery important. Keeping our business inAfrica stable is very difficult. At the
beginning, it was very tough. But every
time I visit Tanzania things are improving. Before, there was nothing aroundthe factory. These days, a kind of town
has sprung up around our facility.
Everyone looks so peaceful and maintaining this kind of situation is very
important. It’s also very important not
to just invest, but to help people standon their own and be able to work. If
people can get a job, they can create
income and this will be their motivation. So I think stability or peace issomething like that.
Oubida: As ambassadors, when we sit
down to brainstorm, the question we
have is, “What do you want us to do for
you to go to Africa?” Please tell us what
we should do for you to go. If we havethe private sector’s insight, we will makethings happen with our government. We
want to see the private sector.
Moderator: I think the point mentioned about interaction between private sector support and government
support is very important. Are there
any comments from the ambassadors?
Afeworki: In most African countries,
there is a regulatory environment is inplace. There are proclamations, rules
and regulations that are very attractive
to outside investment. The businessenvironment, the legal framework, thesecurity for investment, tax issues andemployee issues — all of these things
are properly there in most African countries. This is very important to understand. Of course, there is a lack of
information and information is notshared probably because we now all
think that we live in the information age.
But for many African countries, many ofthe proclamations concerning‘Social stability is becoming so much moreestablished now in Africa, and that is why
investment is coming to the continent.
Jin Montesano

and that is why investment is coming to
the continent. Some of the things that weare looking to see is greater investment
by government and the private sector in
infrastructure, certainly plumbing andsewage systems, that would enable companies to really accelerate sanitation andhygiene, not just for rural populations.
Where we’d love to see acceleration is inproper sanitation and hygiene inschools, hospitals and public facilities,
where we really need the support of government to put the right level of focus onthat infrastructure that’s going to be necessary, and then we can actually consider investments in manufacturing
footprints in Africa to really produce forresources, health, and more are not verytransparently seen via the internet. And
this is another challenge. Our embassies
are here to give information to anybody
who is interested in investing in Africa.
We can advise and this kind of dialogue
should continue.
The turning point, and the highexpectation of the African continent, is,now that TICAD VI will take place inAfrica, in Nairobi, business people will
go and talk to our leaders face to face.
There is a very vibrant private sectorin Africa now. We are not in the dark.
There is big hope on our continent.
Okada: That’s very encouraging.

PAGE: 9Top, residents prepare to install a Lixil SaTo, short for safe toilet, in Uganda in March2016. Above, a woman works at a factory producing Sumitomo Chemical’s
Olyset. lixil/m. hallahan, sumitomo chemical

Because the support you offer from theembassies is very important. The private
sector faces many problems in their
daily business. For example, they may
have difficulty clearing shipments at
customs, because shipments arrive at a
port and it takes time, or they send theirpeople but it may take time to get aworking visa. To solve such problems,
one of the things we did in Kenya was toorganize a meeting with deputy minister-level government staff, the Japanese
embassy and business representatives
in Nairobi every month at which eachcompany would report their problems.
So both small and important issues
were raised and the deputy minister incharge would appoint someone to solve
them.

Look at the case of Ebola. The
assumption here was that it was all of
Africa.
So the fourth estate has a serious ability in terms of delivering what Africa is
all about, so that there is no fear.
There has to be a systematic evolutionof understanding of what is happening
in particular countries, so that government travel advisories don’t go against
the grain of what we are doing in the
TICAD process.
There has to be a merging of minds interms of how Japan and Africa should
move to the next level.

Afeworki: The most important thing is
the infrastructure that we are using is
not at the level of other economies. Just
to mention the health infrastructure thatexists in Africa, or the customs infrastructure, or insurance infrastructure,among others — the computerization,
the networks, such things do not exist.
Everything is on paper. This process
takes time and it slows down the efficiency.
Improving the governance in all activities in Africa is a real challenge. Of
course human rights and other issues
are very important. But the infrastructure, itself, is in another lifecycle that is
not compatible to what we have here.
We have to see all things globally andtry to intervene from different aspects.
That is why the public-private partnership is very important in this TICAD
process.

Okada: There are many stakeholders in
TICAD. One important sector is civilsocieties. In the TICAD process we see
their contribution and many civil societies, both from Africa and Japan will participate in TICAD. So discussions at
TICAD will take place from a wide variety of stakeholders. That is very important.
TICAD VI is very unique and challenging. It will be the very first TICAD
held in Africa. So the success of this
TICAD is very important for future
TICADs, because we see the strong
ownership of African countries. That is
why we will have TICAD in Kenya.
I really hope that TICAD VI in Nairobi
will be very successful and we will makegreat achievements. It’s not a one-timecommitment. It’s an ongoing process.
That’s why we need to continue the
TICAD process. The success of the coming TICAD VI is very important for all ofus.

Oubida: I think that Japan is doing very
well. The approach of Japan is to facilitate integration. And African Union isabout integration. If I take, for example,
ECOWAS on the regional level, we havecome together to facilitate, to unify andto coordinate our rules of law.
This is meant to facilitate investment.
You come with your money and the government has to protect that.
We will try after TICAD VI to come up
with other conventions, including thoseon promotion, non-double taxation andothers.
Maina: The fourth estate is very significant. When you look at the coverage ofAfrica, it tends to be always focusing on
the negative. When there is peaceful
information, you never hear that coming out at all.

Moderator: I would like to ask Mr.
Okada for some follow-up remarks toconclude this session.

Moderator: Thank you. The discussion
has confirmed the importance of the
TICAD process to turn the many challenges confronting Africa’s development into opportunities through thecontinuing dialogue and follow-up
measures between government andinternational institutions and the private sector. Thank you very much forparticipating in this discussion.
These pages have been produced withthe support of the Ogasawara
Foundation for the Promotion of Scienceand Engineering, which was founded by
Toshiaki Ogasawara, the chairman andpublisher of The Japan Times and thechairman of Nifco Inc.