Remarks	   made	   by	   H.E.	   Mr.	   ESTIFANOS	   Afeworki,	  Ambassador	  of	  the	  State	  of	  Eritrea	  to	  Japan	  and	  Dean	  of	  the	   African	   Diplomatic	   Corps	   (ADC)	   in	   Tokyo	   on	   the	  Occasion	  of	  the	  Tokyo	  Africa	  Club	  (TAC)	  meeting	  held	  on	  July	  24th	  2017:	  	  	  Ambassador	   Takeshi	   Osuga,	   Director	   General,	   African	   Affairs	  Department	  MoFA,	  Excellencies,	  Dear	  Colleagues	  and	  participants	  	  	  	  The	   objective	   of	   Africa’s	   Agenda	   of	   integration	   is	   to	   attain	   a	   widely	  shared	   economic	   growth	   and	   social	   stability.	   This	   has	   become	   the	  main	  pillar	  of	  cooperation	  between	  Africa	  and	  Japan,	  as	  it	  was	  clearly	  indicated	   and	   underlined	   in	   the	   TICAD	   VI	   Nairobi	   Declaration.	  	  Developing	   critical	   infrastructures	   such	   as	   communication	   systems,	  power,	   roads,	   railways,	   air	   transport	   and	   ports	   is,	   with	   out	   any	  question,	   the	   priority	   of	   the	   priorities	   in	   Africa	   Agenda	   2063.	   	   They	  are	   major	   challenges,	   and	   are	   therefore,	   placed	   at	   the	   top	   of	   the	  development	  agenda	  of	  the	  cooperation	  between	  Japan	  and	  Africa	  in	  the	  TICAD	  VI	  as	  well	  as	  with	  other	  development	  partners.	  	  	  The	  African	  Development	  Bank	  (AfDB)	  has	  signed	  with	  Japan	  a	  Letter	  of	  Intent	  to	  launch	  the	  Africa	  –	  Japan	  Energy	  Initiative	  (JAEI). Japan	  stands	  ready	  to	  provide	  up	  to	  US$	  6	  billion	  in	  both	  concessional	  and	  non-­‐concessional	  finance	  for	  a	  variety	  of	  energy	  operations	  in	  Africa.	  
The	   agreement	   was	   signed	   on	   the	   sidelines	   of	   the	   African	   Union	  Summit	  at	  the	  AU	  headquarters	  in	  Addis	  Ababa	  on	  3	  July	  2017.	  This	  is	   a	   clear	   signal	   displaying	   Japan’s	   commitment	   to	   implement	   PM	  Abe’s	   pledge	   of	   US$	   30	   billion	   to	   Africa’s	   development	   in	   TICAD	   VI	  (2016	   –	   2019).	   	   Therefore,	   let	   me,	   on	   the	   onset,	   extend	  congratulations,	   on	   behalf	   of	   our	   group	   members	   present	   here	   and	  myself,	  to	  Japan	  for	  launching	  this	  successful	  new	  initiative	  to	  Africa	  in	  this	  TAC	  Meeting	  today.	  	  Having	   said	   that	   and	   in	   line	   with	   TICAD	   VI	   commitments	   made,	   let	  me	   take	   this	   opportunity,	   in	   my	   capacity	   as	   Dean	   of	   the	   African	  Diplomatic	   Corps	   (ADC)	   and	   Ambassador	   of	   the	   State	   of	   Eritrea	   to	  Japan	   to	   share	   with	   the	   Ministry	   of	   Foreign	   Affairs	   of	   Japan	   three	  points	   for	   consideration	   in	   the	   context	   of	   the	   Ministerial	   Follow-­‐up	  	  1	  Meeting,	   which	   will	   take	   place	   in	   Maputo	   Mozambique	   from	   24	   to	   25	  August	  2017.	  	  	  1. Capacity	   building	   in	   the	   health	   sectors:	   Many	   African	  countries,	   including	   my	   country	   Eritrea,	   have	   been	   committed	  to	   improving	   the	   health	   care	   system	   and	   have	   been	   making	  progress	   towards	   meeting	   the	   MDGs	   and	   SDGs	   goals	   in	   the	  health	  sector	  such	  as:	  	  	  	  a) Many	   of	   our	   countries	   are	   making	   a	   focused	   effort	   on	  prevention	   and	   control	   especially	   in	   the	   area	   of	  communicable	   and	   infectious	   diseases,	   reproductive	  health,	   combating	   nutrient	   deficiencies	   for	   children	  under	   five	   and	   mothers;	   and	   national	   programs	   are	  underway	   aimed	   at	   immunization	   of	   children	   against	  antigens,	  b) Development	   of	   vaccines	   against	   malaria	   is	   giving	  positive	  signs	  that	  need	  to	  be	  sustained	  effectively.	  	  The	  use	   of	   the	   long	   insecticide	   treated	   nets	   supplied	   by	   Japan	  has	  been	  a	  proven	  effective	  ways	  to	  prevent	  malaria,	  c) As	   well	   known,	   poor	   health	   in	   most	   of	   our	   countries	   is	  also	  associated	  with	  lack	  of	  access	  to	  clean	  water	  supply	  and	   sanitation.	   	   Clean	   water	   is	   a	   major	   challenge	   to	   the	  rural	  and	  urban	  dwellers	  of	  our	  countries,	  and	  d) Other	  related	  activities	  	  Therefore,	  it	  is	  the	  African	  Diplomatic	  Corps’	  (ADC)	  expectation	  that	   capacity	   building	   in	   the	   health	   sector	   is	   to	   be	   underlined	  with	   more	   focused	   program	   of	   implementation	   in	   the	   TICAD	   VI	  Ministerial	   Follow-­‐up	   Meeting	   in	   Maputo	   Mozambique	   on	   the	  above-­‐mentioned	   endeavors.	   	   We	   believe	   consultations	   with	  key	   stakeholders	   in	   this	   sector	   including	   and	   not	   excluding	   our	  national	   health	   and	   public	   works	   institutions	   with	   Japan	   are	  critical	   component	   to	   the	   efficient	   progress	   on	   the	   ground	   of	  such	   programs	   in	   2017	   –	   2019.	   The	   contribution	   of	   Japan	   in	  dealing	   with	   the	   Ebola	   crisis	   in	   Guinea	   and	   Liberia	   was	   an	  outstanding	   record	   to	   further	   guide	   the	   enhancement	   of	  cooperation	  initiative.	  	  	  2. Capacity	   building	   in	   social	   stability	   sectors:	   	   Many	   African	  countries,	   including	   my	   own	   country	   Eritrea,	   have	   been	  committed	  to	  the	  eradication	  of	  poverty,	  disease	  and	  ignorance	  	  2	  programs.	   	   Our	   continent	   has	   been	   making	   progress	   with	   the	  cooperation	   of	   development	   partners	   towards	   meeting	   the	  MDGs	   and	   SDGs	   goals	   in	   the	   economic,	   health	   and	   education	  sector.	  	  	  We	   believe	   consultations	   with	   key	   stakeholders	   in	   this	   sector	  including	  but	  not	  excluding	  our	  national	  institutions	  and	  Japan	  are	  critical	  component	  to	  the	  efficient	  progress	  on	  the	  ground	  of	   such	   programs	   in	   2017	   –	   2019	   to	   address	   the	   different	  mechanisms	  of	  support	  through	  the	  TICAD	  VI	  implementation	  plan	  projects	  to:	  	  	  a) Increase	  equitable	  enrollment	  in	  basic	  education	  through	  the	  construction	  of	  low	  cost	  but	  durable	  classrooms	  and	  ancillary	  facilities,	  	  b) Target	   interventions	   aimed	   at	   girls	   and	   other	  disadvantaged	  children,	  	  c) Improve	  the	  quality	  of	  basic	  and	  secondary	  education	  by	  extending	   teacher	   training	   and	   professional	   support	   on	  science	  and	  mathematics	  education,	  	  d) Develop	   technical	   skills	   and	   technology	   training	   by	  expanding	   existing	   technical	   schools	   and	   establishing	  new	  ones,	  	  e) Support	   education	   sector	   capacity	   to	   deliver	   better	  quality	  education,	  	  f) Promote	   development	   of	   viable	   micro	   and	   small	  enterprises,	  	  g) Create	  income-­‐generating	  opportunities	  for	  the	  youth	  by	  enhancing	   the	   productive	   capacity	   of	   traditional	   farmers,	  herdsmen,	  fishermen,	  and	  h) Other	  related	  activities	  	  3. Promoting	   Investment	   from	   Japan	   to	   our	   countries:	   	   TICAD	  VI	   clearly	   recognized	   the	   importance	   of	   agriculture,	   livestock	  and	  fisheries	  in	  enhancing	  national	  food	  security,	  and	  its	  role	  in	  adding	  to	  export	  earnings,	  support	  of	  industrialization	  and	  help	  to	   national	   programs.	   I	   believe	   enhanced	   consultations	   with	  key	  stakeholders	  in	  this	  sector	  including	  but	  not	  excluding	  our	  national	  institutions	  of	  agriculture,	  fisheries,	  marine	  resources	  and	  Japan	  are	  also	  critical	  component	  to	  the	  efficient	  progress	  of	  the	  implementation	  programs	  outlined	  in	  TICAD	  VI	  in	  2017	  –	  2019	  especially	  those	  targeting	  increase	  in:	  	  	  3	  	  a) Water	  availability,	  	  b) Farm	   productivity	   for	   prompting	   production	   of	   high	   value	  crops,	  vegetables	  and	  fruits	  c) Reorientation	   in	   agricultural,	   livestock,	   fisheries	   extension,	  research	   programs	   to	   respond	   to	   farmers,	   herdsmen,	  fishermen	  priority	  needs	  and	  demands,	  	  d) Provision	   of	   increased	   credit	   facility	   to	   support	  modernization	  of	  the	  agricultural	  sector	  and	  support	  to	  the	  small-­‐scale	  enterprises,	  and	  	  e) Other	  related	  activities	  	  Last	  but	  not	  list	  an	  enhanced	  FDI	  movement	  to	  our	  countries	  through	  equity;	  share	  and	  loan	  participation	  by	  the	  private	  sector	  of	  Japan	  in	  our	  economic	  development	  programs	  is	  not	  only	  imperative	  but	  also	  remains	  to	  be	  the	  main	  litmus	  paper	  and	  locomotive	  engine	  of	   TICAD	  VI.	  	  	  Thank	  you,	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  	  4