the impact upon Africa of the current financial and economic crisis as well as measures to counteract it were discussed between donors, aid organizations and African countries. Japan announced that while its economy is impacted by the global financial and economic crisis, it will nevertheless fulfill the commitments made at TICAD IV without fail and will more vigorously assist Africa, which is also faced with the crisis. Furthermore, Japan pledged to expedite the implementation of approximately US$2 billion grant and technical assistance as quickly as possible. Recognizing that socially vulnerable people are the ones who will be most severely impacted as this crisis expands, Japan announced that in order to mitigate the impact it will provide food and humanitarian assistance of approximately US$300 million as well as disburse approximately US$200 million to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The countries of Africa which attended this meeting were highly appreciative of the status of implementation of Japan's assistance as well as Japan's announcement of its determination to carry out its commitments made at TICAD IV. At the same time, participants of the meeting expressed the concern that under this economic crisis Africa's growth will suffer a slowdown while achievement of the MDGs will be delayed, as well as stressed the need for further assistance. At the G20 Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy held in London in April 2009, Japan called for the scaling up assistance to Africa. Furthermore, at the G20 Pittsburgh Summit in September which Prime Minister Hatoyama attended, the need to strengthen assistance for the most vulnerable populations was confirmed.

At the 64th Session of the General Assembly of the UN in September 2009, Prime Minister Hatoyama announced that the new government intends to continue and strengthen the TICAD process. In October of that year, Foreign Minister Okada announced to the African Diplomatic Corps two fundamental principles of Japan's policy on Africa: 1) Providing assistance for development and growth of Africa; and 2) Contributing to peace and stability of Africa. At present, Japan is in the process of identifying and designing projects for each priority area, including Africa's infrastructure, agriculture, health, education, water and sanitation, environment and climate change, with a view to carrying out the commitments Japan made at TICAD IV. Japan has conducted more than 130 preparatory surveys in the countries of Africa and is making efforts towards the steady realization of these concrete assistance measures. Regarding ODA loans, Japan, with a view to reaching a new agreement on loans of up to US$4 billion over a five-year period, has been working to actively mobilize loans, including the expansion of loan recipient countries, while taking into consideration the persistence of debt and the specific needs of development in the respective countries.

With Japan’s ODA to Africa in 2008 totaling approximately US$1.75 billion, which is more than the previous year by approximately US$670 million (61.7%), Japan is making progress to achieve the commitments announced at TICAD IV. Under the Hatoyama administration, Japan will continue to carry out the commitments announced at TICAD IV, including the commitments to double its ODA and provide assistance for doubling Japanese private investment to Africa by 2012. To this end, Japan will actively promote assistance to Africa, continuing to cooperate with donors and aid organizations such as the World Bank and African Development Bank, as well as NGOs, providing detailed assistance activities in Africa.