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Oliver Kazunga

Senior Business Reporter

Japan, Asia’s second largest economy, says the 8th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), scheduled to take place in Tunisia next week, will provide it with an opportunity to strengthen cooperation with Zimbabwe.

The international conference will bring together Heads of State from different African countries including Zimbabwe.

Ticad is an international conference focussed on Africa’s development has been hosted by the Government of Japan since 1993 in collaboration with the United Nations, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank (WB) and the African Union Commission.

As a build up to the main conference the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will host 26 side events to discuss a wide range of topics including agriculture, climate change, education, regional integration and health/vaccines.

The event will be held virtually from August 22 to 26.

 Leaders and experts from Africa international organisations and Japan will take the stage to discuss the challenges that the continent is presently facing and the possible solutions.

 JICA sees the event as an important opportunity to explore the future direction of its activities.

 JICA’s resident representative in Zimbabwe Kyosuke Kawazumi said “TICAD8 has come at such a pivotal time when Africa is facing the effects of harsh realities like the Covid-19 pandemic, Russia-Ukraine war and climate change, among others and JICA is looking at collaborations to build forward better.

“Given the abundant mineral, touristic, agricultural and human resources in the country, we are focusing on the potential of Zimbabwe and capacity development of its people in order to strengthen the business relationship between Zimbabwe and Japan.

“We look forward to the continued cooperation between Zimbabwe and Japan as we move towards a resilient, inclusive and prosperous Zimbabwe and in turn Africa.”  

JICA’s support for African development is characterised by three concepts: “people-focused”, “Africa’s ownership” and “utilising the Japanese Experience”.

In Zimbabwe, JICA, which has been around since 1980, is working on activities including facilitation for smooth Integration into the Southern African Regional Economy.

It is also involved in initiatives for effective utilisation of abundant resources through empowerment of smallholder farmers to practice market-oriented agriculture.

 JICA is also offering assistance for the human security of vulnerable people and social development through quality improvement of health services through the Kaizen approach.

Mr Kawazumi said JICA was launching new activities to address infectious diseases like Covid-19, food crises and climate change in Africa.

These include building resilient and inclusive health systems in five countries: Senegal, Ghana, Mozambique, Angola, and Zambia.

Further, the agency is involved in improving rice productivity to alleviate the food crisis in four countries: Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Angola.

It also works to promote private investment in the renewable energy sector by sending Japanese experts to four countries: Nigeria, Angola, Namibia, and Botswana.

JICA implements its cooperation programmes in line with Japan’s priority areas and outcomes from TICAD.