PRESIDENT Mnangagwa arrived in Japan yesterday to attend
the 7th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) summit
which kicks off here today, with principal focus on business and investment.
The President joins dozens of African Heads of States who
will grace the mammoth summit hosted by Japan’s Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe.
On arrival at Haneda International Airport in Tokyo,
President Mnangagwa was received by Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and
Rural Resettlement Minister Perrance Shiri as well as Zimbabwe’s envoy to
Japan, Ambassador Titus Abu-Basutu.
Other Cabinet Ministers Dr Sibusiso Moyo (Foreign Affairs
and International Trade), Kazembe Kazembe (Information Communication
Technology, Postal and Courier Services) and Professor Amon Murwirwa (Higher
and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development) are also in Japan
for the summit.
The three-day TICAD summit, themed, “Advancing Africa’s
Development through People, Technology and Innovation”, offers massive
opportunities for African countries to enhance trade and investment with Japan
and unlock growth in infrastructure development and long term partnerships.
Diplomatic sources said that this year’s
TICAD 7 will be more business-oriented than previous summits as Japan’s
government and its private sector are eager to enhance co-operation with African
countries.
The sources said the President, who immediately went into
high-level closed door meetings soon after his arrival at 9PM (Japanese time),
will have a packed schedule that includes meetings with Prime Minister Abe, as
well as The Emperor of Japan, His Majesty Naruhito and top business leaders.
“The bilateral meetings with Japan’s leader will be one of
the highlights of the visit. The President will also have meetings with top
businesspeople in Japan,” the sources said.
The diplomatic sources further said Zimbabwe and other
African countries have a great advantage at this year’s summit as Japan is keen
to use TICAD as a platform to widen deliberations with Africa.
“Through TICAD 7, Japan aims to lead international
discussions on African development, aiming to materialise the outcomes of major
international conferences, including the Group of 20 and the Group of 7 nations
this year.”
In a pivotal development, Prime Minister Abe flew into
Tokyo yesterday from the G7 summit in France, raising expectations that
outcomes from the meeting of the world’s most powerful countries will also have
a bearing on TICAD.
Japan’s diplomats said this year’s summit will zero-in on
how Tokyo can shift its focus of economic assistance to quality, rather than
quantity, raising the prospects that countries such as Zimbabwe will have a
firm pedestal for sustainable development.
According to documents availed to our Harare Bureau, the
expected deliverables from TICAD will be hinged on three plinths to fast track
positive outcomes from the summit.
“These are firstly, accelerating economic transformation
and improving the business environment through innovation and private sector
engagement; secondly deepening a resilient and sustainable society between
Africa and Japan as well as strengthening peace and security.”
The documents said positive outcomes are also expected from
deliberations that will be held between representatives from Zimbabwe and
Japan’s business sector. “There will be public-private business dialogue to
enhance trade and investment between Africa and Japan, allowing voices of the
private sector to be heard by African and Japanese leaders.
“The summit will also be accompanied by hundreds of
side-events that include the Japan Africa Business Forum and Expo as well as
the Africa Japan pitch, where Zimbabwe will get a platform to showcase
opportunities available in the country,” the documents read.
A report detailing some of the possible areas of
deliberations at the summit said four themes will be under discussion, emerging
developments and trends since the last summit in 2016, stakeholders’ efforts
towards economic transformation for inclusive growth, efforts towards promoting
a healthy sustainable and stable society for human security as well as
examining efforts towards strengthening connectivity to Africa.
Last night, the Herald was told that other African
leaders who had confirmed attendance were current African Union President and
Egypt’s leader Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Presidents Cyril Ramaphosa (South Africa),
Paul Kagame (Rwanda), Uhuru Kenyatta (Kenya), Muhammadu Buhari (Nigeria), Edgar
Lungu (Zambia), Ibrahim Boubakar Keita (Mali), Macky Sall (Senegal), Mohamed
Abdullahi Farmajo (Somalia), Faure Gnassingbe (Togo), Mahamadou Issoufou
(Niger) and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo (Ghana).
TICAD, which was first launched by Japan in 1993, has
undergone critical transformations in recent years aimed at responding to the
needs of Africa.
At the last TICAD system in Nairobi, Kenya, Japan committed
to invest approximately US$30 billion under public-private partnerships for
Africa. Herald
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