TOKYO: The Eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development was held in Tunisia late last week, and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida promised that Japan would "assist Africa to urgently tackle issues such as unfair and opaque development finance."
Observers see that as an apparent crackdown on China's lending practices, Japan and other members of the Group of Seven have criticized the nations for placing them in a "debt trap".
To shift blame and responsibility, the US and some other Western countries created a "so-called Chinese debt trap", according to China's foreign ministry.
Liberia's former Public Works Minister W. According to Guid Moore, Kishida's statement to TICAD appears to compare Japan's lending policy with others.
It is clear that China is the "other" in this position because Japan generally cooperates with the West, according to Moore.
Kishida told TICAD via video link that Japan would invest billions of dollars in the continent and train thousands of African professionals in an effort to counter China's growing influence there.
TICAD, which meets every three years, was never intended to be a rival to China.
In fact, before China emerged as a significant player, Japan spent billions of dollars building roads, power plants and ports on the continent.
To increase its trade with Africa and gain access to markets for its industries as well as raw materials for its industries, Japan established TICAD in 1993.
But from 1991 to 2001, Japan experienced an unheard-of recession known as the "lost decade" and it reduced its development funding to foreign investment to focus on reviving its economy.
At the turn of the millennium, China began to expand into overseas markets, encouraging both state-owned and private businesses to do the same. In addition, Beijing launched a competitive conference in 2000 called the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), which meets every three years.
As part of its Transcontinental Belt and Road Initiative, China has since become Africa's largest trading partner and an important financier of infrastructure projects including ports, railways, highways and dams.
Japan recently announced US$30 billion in public and private financial contributions over the next three years in an aggressive effort to regain its economic and diplomatic influence in Africa and challenge China's position.
Observers refer to Tokyo's plan to train 300,000 Africans as a future force to lead African economies as a "quick victory" for Japan. Before COVID-19, China was educating and training more African professionals than any other nation. These events have not been organized since then.
Paul Nantulya, a research associate at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies at the National Defense University in Washington, claims that China offered 10,000 scholarships and training opportunities at its FOCAC summit in 2021, up from 100,000 offered in 2019. There is a shortage.
The Japanese pledge is less than the US$10 billion of the US$40 billion FOCAC pledge made in 2021, but this amount represents a significant reduction from the US$60 billion pledged by China for various projects, including infrastructure, during the 2018 FOCAC cycle .
According to Nantulya, "It is safe to say that Japan is stepping up its game in response to the FOCAC's victories in Africa.
According to Nantulya, the Japanese model of engagement in Africa is fundamentally based on openness, local ownership, co-financing, low debt load and high quality public works.
According to him, China has primarily prioritized financing and developing entirely new infrastructure through concessional loans, while Japan has focused more on the maintenance, modernization and rehabilitation of existing infrastructure.
Much of Japan's financial and technical assistance to Africa has gone through organizations such as the African Development Bank.
In contrast, Nantulya said, "China works more closely with individual governments, particularly through the executive branch and provides the majority, if not all, of debt finance."
According to him, most Japanese projects are accomplished through co-financing and co-partnership, with the African private sector and even civil society playing an important role.
According to Nantulya, at the eighth FOCAC summit in November, China recently made a strategic push towards private sector participation.
The bottom-up demand from African stakeholders, who often see Sino-African cooperation as being limited to governments and ruling elites, has led to this, according to the expert, he continued. In terms of strategic security, Nantulya said that at TICAD 6 in Nairobi in 2016, Africa was included in Japan's "Vision for a Free Indo Pacific". According to him, this was a response to China's growing Belt and Road initiative.
Much earlier, Japan had set up a military base in Djibouti in 2011, six years before China opened its base there, and began deploying counter-piracy off the coast of Somalia in 2009, a year after China backed anti-piracy. began to send troops to Piracy action in the Gulf of Aden.
According to Nantulya, Japan is also participating in the G7's "Build Back Better World" initiative, which was promoted by the US as a response to China's funding of the Belt and Road.
According to Moore, who is currently working for the Center for Global Development, Africa can appreciate Japan's emphasis on human capital development.
Moore said that "Africa's rapidly growing and young population faces significant challenges, particularly high unemployment." "The continent needs a Japanese aid program that focuses on enhancing health and education outcomes."
Many African leaders will be pleased with the size of the three-year commitment because Japan has a reputation for competence and quality in its projects.
Kweku Ampia, professor of Japanese studies at the University of Leeds in the UK, questioned whether the US$30 billion pledge would be enough to entice Japanese private sector investment in Africa.
For example, he cited the Japan Association of Corporate Executives' assessment of Japan's prior pledges from 2016 and 2019. Empia claimed that as a result, Japanese investment in Africa fell from US$12 billion in 2013 to US$4.8 billion in 2020.
In an email interview, Empia said, "I don't think things are going to be any different in the next three years." Compared to TICAD 6 (2016) and TICAD 7 (2019), "TICAD 8 (2022) was more of a platform for projection of Japan's position on current global issues".
Celine Pajon, Japan's head of research at the French Institute of International Relations in Paris, claimed that Japan separated its development debt from China by emphasizing the quality of aid over quantity.
In this period of several crises, according to Pajone, Japan was returning to its original approach in its relations with Africa. According to Pajone, the pandemic brought to light two fundamental principles of Tokyo's policy on development aid: human security and human-centred development. This allowed Japan to express its long-standing commitment to the health regime.
According to Pajone, "Japan's long-standing project to become a permanent member on the UN Security Council and offer two seats for Africa" ​​has been revived by conflict in Ukraine and the lack of UN effectiveness. .
In June, five countries were chosen to fill two non-permanent seats on the UN Security Council for 2023 and 2024, including Japan. Kishida informed TICAD that Japan would use its influence to advocate for an African seat on the UN Security Council.
According to Pajone, Japan was increasing its investment in decarbonization, green energy and promising African start-ups as a way to increase private contributions to the continent.
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