Special Topics • Partnership Between Africa & Japan • 2Interview with H. E. Mr. Kassa T. Gebrehiwet, Ambassador of the Federal Democratic Republic ofEthiopia to JapanN

ew Ethiopian Government
Pursuing Collaboration withJapanese Businesses

By Japan SPOTLIGHT
Ethiopia, which has the second-largest population after Nigeria in Africa, is a country that many Japanese
love and are interested in because of its rich tourism resources and long history. The newly establishedgovernment in 2018 has started a more open foreign and economic policy. Japan SPOTLIGHT interviewed thecountry’s new ambassador to Japan.
(Interviewed on July 12, 2019)

Self-Introduction
JS: First, could you please briefly

introduce yourself and tell us about
your work on Asia and Japan sofar?

Current Ethiopian
Government’s Policies
JS: Could you tell us about thecurrent foreign and economic
policies that the Ethiopian
government has been pursuing
since 2018?

Kassa: My name is Kassa T. Gebrehiwet andthis is my second posting, after the UnitedStates. Before that I served in public office for
Kassa: Our foreign policy, which is undermore than three decades, including as minister
review, had been an inward-looking policy
of Federal and Pastoralist Development Affairs,
focusing on tackling the problems at home andand as speaker of our House of Federation.
identifying our internal vulnerabilities. We haveI also headed various bureaus including thoselearnt much from studying the experiences ofof industry and investment, administration,
countries like Japan. We focused on
agriculture and public relations. Because of myeradicating poverty through fast and fair
experience in public office, I’m familiar witheconomic development, nurturing and
H. E. Mr. Kassa T. Gebrehiwet
government policies and processes.
developing democracy and good governance,
I also think that many Ethiopians are also
and ensuring peace and stability at home andfamiliar with Japan. Most of our cars brands, like Toyota, are made inin the region. The primary focus of our diplomats was to bring muchJapan. Many educated people in Ethiopia have a better understanding
needed investment and other economic benefits to Ethiopia.
of Japan because of the history of relations between our two countries
Remarkable development has been achieved so far. Now our foreignthat dates back to the 1930s. There was actually a group of Ethiopian
policy is being reviewed to include recent local and global
intellectuals during Emperor Haile Selassie’s regime that searched intodevelopments and expand areas of cooperation, focus on
Japan’s fast GDP growth and success, and advised that Ethiopia
development, as in the past, and attract more foreign direct investment
should follow in Japan’s footsteps to quickly catch up with the(FDI). Continued efforts to strengthen strong relationships and regional
developed world. Lessons from Japan and other emerging countries
integration between neighboring and other countries will create more
informed the drafting of the Ethiopian Foreign Policy and National
economic interdependency.
Security Strategy and local socio-economic policies. Our country has
Peacekeeping, citizen-centered diplomacy and public diplomacy
achieved considerable progress as a result of these policies.
have been added to the policy document. The issue of climate change
So, even though I had not physically visited Japan before myis also vital to us. We have been proactively engaged in climate change
assignment here, I have been quite familiar with it. And I have wanted
initiatives and peacekeeping operations. Ethiopia is the largest troop
to visit the country for so long. Therefore, I was delighted to be given
contributor to UN peacekeeping currently, with over 8,300 uniformed
the opportunity to serve my country here. I arrived in March of thispersonnel.
year and have been actively meeting with many Japanese government
Apart from implementing these political and structural reforms, weand business organizations.
are also undertaking massive and bold economic reforms. Ethiopia has
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decided to liberalize and open up the economy, including partiallyprivatizing Ethiopian Airlines, Ethio-Telecom, big factories, as well the
shipping and logistics sector, and full privatization of sugar industries,
railways, industrial parks and others. Many other public enterprises are
already in the pipeline for privatization.
Opening new sectors allows international firms to form a joint
venture with domestic business people. For example, one of thebiggest firms, Ethiopian Cargo, is in talks with DHL. Apart fromDjibouti which serves as the main gateway for our imports andexports, efforts have been underway to use ports in Sudan, Kenya andSomalia. In addition, we are working to use the ports of Massawa andAssab following our peace agreement with Eritrea. Efforts are also
underway to make Ethiopia very conducive to Japanese and otherinvestors to come. We are scaling up on past developments andintroducing new reforms in areas where we have seen weakness. We
have done the basic policy reform and preparation with our level best
to make Ethiopia the emerging manufacturing hub of Africa.

Assessment of TICAD
JS: Since your government is now more open inforeign and economic policy, how do you assess
what TICAD has achieved so far?

Kassa: I believe that the success of TICAD must be measured against
the main objectives it set to achieve. Its objectives are, first, topromote high-level policy dialogue between African leaders and theirpartners, and second, to mobilize support for African-owned
development initiatives. So we believe TICAD has achieved a lot in thisregard.
Of course, it needs more effort. For example, the first TICAD
framework helped to set up a business relationship between Africa andJapan. The relationship has been shifting, I believe, from an aid
relationship to trade and investment and resulted in a number ofJapanese companies bringing much-needed investment and othereconomic benefits to businesses in Africa. The number of companies
has increased to more than 448 and the official development
assistance (ODA) amount has also increased.
The visibility of Africa in Japan and vice-versa has highly improved.
Japanese government institutions such as the Japan International
Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO) have opened many branch offices in Africa. JICA is present in
34 African countries, while JETRO has eight offices in Africa. Bothinstitutions have offices in Ethiopia. So this is the most important
bridge between Africa, Ethiopia and Japan, even though not at thedesired level for either side.
Japan’s financial support for projects in Africa has also increased
but it pales in comparison with that of Southeast Asia and Oceania.
Japan’s engagement in African peace and security, anti-terrorism andextremism to prevent piracy and related African issues has also
widened.
That said, the educational and human resource capacity-building

support of Japan for Africa currently has benefited many Africancountries. The African Business Education (ABE) Initiative waslaunched as part of the TICAD framework. Many training opportunities
have also been provided. Of course, it is a much smaller share than it
should be.
JS: Do you expect TICAD VII in Yokohama to fill thegap between your expectations and reality?

Kassa: We have high expectations that the leaders at this TICAD
summit will announce a major leapfrog decision. Until now the
majority of TICAD efforts between Japan and Africa have been
focusing on pre-production – such as creating understanding and justestablishing institutions, and also, to some extent, bringing in various
professionals for training. On a smaller scale, the private sector has
grown slowly. That was the fundamental preparation phase and,I believe, it is finished. So now we anticipate the Marshall phase or themassive and mega-operational phase to be announced. TICAD VII is
expected to focus primarily on building business-to-business relations
between the private sector of Japan and Africa.
We expect that Japanese investors will look at Africa for what it is: acontinent with tremendous untapped business opportunities, natural
resources, abundant human capital, and strategically convenient
geographical location. Governments are also eagerly trying to improvea conducive business environment. We hope a mutual understanding
between business people will develop and increase because many
Japanese companies and government officials as well as Africanbusinesses will participate at this meeting.
Another expectation is smoother and larger amounts of financial
flows into Africa, to assist the private and joint venture investments
and the governments. Many African countries lack capital, so Japanesefinancial institutions can assist both Japanese and African companies
with funding. A 2017 report from the Bank of Japan says that Japan
has more than $100 billion in FDI in ASEAN countries. We would liketo see increased engagement on a bigger scale for Africa. Many
African countries need additional ODA.
And finally, education and training, which the ABE initiative
supports, should offer our younger people more actionable
opportunities. The Japanese government is now looking to increase its
labor force. I think it will be useful to look into African countries whichhave an abundance of young workers who simply need training.
JS: The ABE Initiative started in 2014 to support

human resources development. How do you assess
its contribution to your country’s economic
achievements?

Kassa: The aim is to cultivate a strong human network between Japanand Africa, to increase the number of African people visiting Japan,
and to enhance awareness among Africans regarding the efficiency ofJapanese technologies and systems of enterprise. The role humancapital could play in business and hence the prosperity of Africa isJapan SPOTLIGHT • September / October 201931

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really immense. Sending students to Japanese universities and also
accessing internships in companies offer opportunities to learn andexperience the way of doing business, the working culture, and thefocus on quality. Japanese companies can tap into graduates from thisprogram to establish business in African countries. So it is very
productive, very effective and very fruitful. But in my view, it should be
more.
The initial five-year plan called for 1,000 African students to earn
master’s degrees at Japanese universities, as well as being interns at
various Japanese companies. Actually, African countries have sent
1,218 students. More than 66 Ethiopians have participated in thisinitiative. This education, plus the kaizen (“improvement”) system, has
introduced a new way of thinking to businesses and institutions inEthiopia. We are especially trying to apply kaizen in government
institutions and businesses alike.
But it is obvious that for 54 African countries with a combined
population of 1.2 billion people there is considerable room for
expansion.

Japanese Business Contribution to Ethiopian
Economy
JS: Can you elaborate more about the Japanesebusiness contribution to the Ethiopian economy or
African economy in general from your perspective?

Kassa: Ethiopia has become a beneficiary of Japanese development
assistance over the years. Japan has been providing assistance inagriculture, water resources, health, education, infrastructure and roaddevelopment, and it provides a wide range of support in the form ofgrants and technical cooperation. A short list of projects financed by
Japan includes: the Renaissance Bridge on the Abay (Blue Nile) River,
the rehabilitation of the bridge on the Awash River, the Addis AbabaDebremarkos Road and the Aluto Langano Geothermal Project
feasibility studies.
32 Japan SPOTLIGHT • September / October 2019

Likewise, we appreciate the concessional loan of $50 million for the
Women Entrepreneur Development Project. This was the first suchloan in 43 years. And last year we received ODA of $50 million for
construction of secondary schools in Ethiopia. The Japanese
government already allocated 750 million birr for building the Kaizen
Human Resource Institute in Addis Ababa. We hope that will become a
Kaizen Excellence center for our continent. So we are grateful for thelevel of development cooperation with the Japanese government. Whatis of greater importance is that the Japanese government’s
development assistance has always been in line with our government’s
priorities.
Another significant work in terms of our cooperation with JICA iswhat was done in the leather industry. In its size it looks very small,but in terms of impact, it is very big. The Japan Leather Industry
Association has been working to promote Ethiopian Highland Leather
since 2015 using the champion product approach through JICA’s
extensive support based on quantifying its attributes through scientificanalysis. So, Ethiopian Highland Leather was branded and identified as
the highest quality product with legally protected patents andintellectual property, and its promotion, production and distribution isunderway. The Ethiopian Highland Leather brand displayed finishedproducts at the Premiere Classe exhibition in Paris in 2018. This hascreated a big opportunity for Ethiopia and building on this, additional
industrial projects and promotion experts are coming and working
with industries. Japanese business expertise has been very helpful inthis industry.
The number of Japanese companies doing business in Africa hasreached at least 448. According to African Business magazine, 131 ofthem are in South Africa, 47 in Egypt, 43 in Kenya, and 35 in Morocco.
Ethiopia is 14th out of 54 countries. We have to work hard to attract
Japanese firms. But for those who started in Ethiopia, they are
becoming productive, fruitful and very helpful.
JS: How do you assess the impact of the digital

revolution in your country?

Kassa: Actually, the upcoming TICAD VII theme is “Advancing Africa’s
development through people, technology and innovation”. About 10
million young Africans are expected to enter the labor market annually.
It’s the fastest-growing labor force in the world, and is an importantand abundant resource. Over the next decade this could give Africa acompetitive advantage in areas of digitalization. Young people arereally going well ahead with mobile and Internet technology.
Many countries have already started the path towards a digital
economy. Some African countries – Rwanda, Nigeria, South Africa,
Ghana, and Kenya – have already demonstrated the capacity toharness our digital technologies in helping the continent leapfrog
traditional models of development and mobile phones. Establishing aplatform for mobile payments and transactions opens the door to the“platform economy” of e-commerce and online markets and the“shared economy”, which have become drivers of growth in digital
economies. Senegal has set a target of generating 10% of its GDP

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from the digital economy by 2025.
The Ethiopian government realized, some years back, the potentialof digital technology and the IT industry and has taken the initiative toestablish an Information Communication Technology (ICT) village tostrengthen the local IT industry and the business sector in Ethiopia
with the aim of attracting direct foreign investment and stimulating the
growth of the domestic ICT program. By creating an enabling
environment for a private sector initiative, my government gives
special attention to work with the Japanese government, because
Japan is one of the leading countries in science and technology. We
hope these initiatives will be attractive to small and medium Japaneseenterprises and even high-tech industries that are ready to makeinvestment in the sector.
JS: What possible contributions do you anticipate

from the newly established “Africa Business
Association” in Japan?

Kassa: The Africa Business Association that came into being in June2018 could be an instrument to enhance business relations between
the private sector of Japan and Africa. For me, this association could
help to create more confidence among Japanese companies to engage
either in joint ventures or investment by themselves. It will enhance
Africa’s business visibility by addressing the misperceptions of Africanbusiness competitiveness.
This is an extension of institutions and organizations that will
strengthen the relationship between Africa and Japan. We are
expanding our network from government to government and now
focusing on the private sectors and exploring the challenges they face,
what opportunities exist and how they can work together to create apositive impact in Africa. Those who have already done business inAfrica will offer testimony to their success and possibilities.

Collaboration for Startups in the Digital
Industry
JS: Focusing on digital technology, startup

businesses, and collaboration for startups between
Japan and Africa might be very important. How
effective will this be in expanding business
opportunities for Japan and Africa?

Kassa: When I was ambassador in the US, I went to Silicon Valley andtalked with young entrepreneurs. Some of them have startup
businesses. Some were very lucrative with clear business models,
while others lacked access to technology, marketing and finance.
Africa is now truly close to a digital revolution. African youths havebetter skills in digital and technology and can be easily trained in theskills of the digital industry. Big tech companies and specialized
education companies are already building these skills in key African
markets. In Ethiopia too, we have many graduates in the sector due tothe attention given by the government. We have two “Excellence

Universities” for technology.
JICA supports the development of a national ICT strategy in
Rwanda. They established a knowledge-based economy and with this
support Rwanda is attracting many investors. The Ethiopian
government has realized the potential of the IT industry and as I said
before, we are trying to encourage and support new startup
businesses in the country through our new policies.
I have spoken with people at the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce andthey told me that most of its members are small and medium
enterprises. Some of them began as startups. So for Africa, it’s a mostimportant area of investment and an area of collaboration with ourpartners. The new startups and operational business in Africa can be abridge to enhanced cooperation with advanced, technical, equippedand innovative companies in Japan.

Other Issues for Ethiopia & Japan
JS: Africa has a wide range of tourism resources andmaybe Ethiopia is among the best. Do you have any
particular plan to attract more tourists from Japan to
Africa?

Kassa: Definitely. That’s one of our main missions. I just visited yourtourism association, and the president and his colleagues offered anamazing trove of data. Every year more than 20 million Japanese travel
the world and spend more than $20 billion on tourism. But thesenumbers do not include Africa, or only a very small share. Less than
100,000 people are going to Africa.
But as you commented, Africa is attractive and is endowed with lotsof quite unique natural resources and wildlife, and hosts many culturaland historical sites. Ethiopia is one of the origins of human beings, hasmany indigenous animals, is a melting pot of diverse cultures, and has
a history of more than 3,000 years of civilization. Our country is truly
quite unique. Just to mention one natural site, there is an active
volcano which attracts plenty of adventurous tourists. Some Japanese
tourists also enjoy visiting this active boiling volcano.
One thing we will need to work on is the perception people haveabout Africa. The perception that Africa is not peaceful is not true.
Therefore, one of our primary objectives is to change that perception
and encourage Japanese people to visit Africa, and Ethiopia. Ethiopian
Airlines has direct flights to Addis Ababa five times a week and after
arriving you can connect to 54 countries effortlessly. So there is an
attractive destination and there is transport. The only problem is that
the Japanese people have to know that Africa is not a big problem tovisit. It is as convenient as traveling to Europe, the US and other partsof Asia. I think that out of 20 million Japanese tourists, 2 or 3 million
should be able to visit Africa and especially Ethiopia.

Written with the cooperation of Dan Considine who teaches at Seikei
University and is president of NeTip Inc.

Japan SPOTLIGHT • September / October 201933