Ministers from Japan and African countries agreed Sunday that they urgently need to take policy actions to address the continent’s "vulnerabilities" and achieve its sustainable economic growth. Representatives from 52 countries who gathered in Tokyo for a two-day ministerial meeting identified challenges, ranging from building infrastructure
Ministers from Japan and African countries agreed Sunday that they urgently need to take policy actions to address the continent’s “vulnerabilities” and achieve its sustainable economic growth.
Representatives from 52 countries who gathered in Tokyo for a two-day ministerial meeting identified challenges, ranging from building infrastructure and better utilizing human resources, particularly young people, to beefing up maritime security and boosting resilience against climate change.
As demand for infrastructure building has been on the rise in Africa, proper debt management for such projects has been increasingly seen as necessary.
Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono, who co-chaired the meeting, said he and the other participants shared the importance of making sure that borrowing countries can pay back debts and sustain fiscal health.
Tokyo has been promoting “quality infrastructure” under projects that create jobs and also train people to maintain the infrastructure after construction, Kono said, underscoring that the focus is on human resources development.
“The basic principles of our TICAD process are transparency, consistency, and follow-ups,” Kono told a press conference after the meeting, which preceded the 7th Tokyo International Conference on African Development, scheduled to be held in Yokohama next August.
