On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of TICAD (Tokyo International Conference on African Development), we look back on JICA’s efforts and look forward to the future with Africa in our “30 Years of TICAD” series. In this issue, we interviewed Mr. Naoki Yanase, Director of JICA’s Africa Department, who explained that through discussions at TICAD, JICA has been cooperating with Africa to meet the challenges and needs it faces, based on the three pillars of human resource development, respect for African ownership, and the use of Japanese experience. We asked Mr. Yanase about the progress and future of JICA, including his own experiences, under the keywords of “peace and stability,” “private sector collaboration and human resource development,” and “wide-area cooperation in Africa.
The concept of “human security” inherited from Sadako Ogata is essential for peace and stability in Africa
-One of the main themes of TICAD is “peace and stability.” How has JICA been working toward peace and stability in African countries?
Yanase: Factors such as infectious disease outbreaks, large-scale natural disasters, environmental destruction caused by global warming, and conflicts that disturb a country’s peace and stability and pose a serious threat to people’s survival are becoming increasingly complex and transcend national borders. No single government can solve these problems alone. In light of this situation, the concept of “human security” is to protect the life and dignity of each and every human being, rather than using the state as a unit.
One of the proponents of this idea was Sadako Ogata. when she became President of JICA in 2003, she identified Africa as the region with the greatest number of people facing various difficulties in promoting human security, and she overhauled JICA’s project structure to create the Africa Division. in TICAD, In the early 2000s, the importance of human security was recognized, and it continues to be recognized today.
When Sadako Ogata was appointed President of JICA, Mr. Yanase recalls how he worked in the General Affairs Department to strengthen support for Africa, which Ms. Ogata had been promoting.
-Please tell us about JICA’s efforts to make concrete progress in realizing human security in Africa.
Yanase: First of all, to explain the approach based on human security in a simple way, we can say that it is to focus on individuals and communities, especially the poor and vulnerable, and to address both the “top-down approach” of improving the capacity of governments to protect people’s rights and freedoms and the “bottom-up approach” of empowering people and communities themselves to engage in their own development. The other is a “bottom-up approach” that empowers people and communities to engage in their own development.
One of these efforts is reconstruction and development cooperation in Sierra Leone in West Africa. Conscious of the “fill the gap” mentioned by Mr. Ogata, JICA has been engaged in reconstruction and development cooperation projects since the UN peacekeeping force was deployed. In order to create a society in Sierra Leone in which conflict does not recur, JICA worked to improve the capacity of local government officials who can be trusted by the local population, and at the same time, strengthen the self-governing organization of the local population. Residents discussed necessary administrative services among themselves and made proposals to the local government, and JICA supported the process. While stationed in the Ghana Office, I was in charge of this initiative in the neighboring country of Sierra Leone and caught a glimpse of the realization of human security in this project to create a community where the government and residents collaborate.
JICA is currently working with international organizations and others in the Sahel region (a 5,000-kilometer semi-arid region along the southern edge of the Sahara Desert) in Africa, where many people suffer from poverty and conflict in particular, to create a stable society where conflict does not occur or recur. This approach, which has been developed in Sierra Leone and other countries, is designed to restore the trust of the local population in the government and to strengthen the society. We will continue to carefully provide the cooperation that is truly necessary, making use of the knowledge we have accumulated.
Local staff and Japanese experts (center) discuss development plans to improve the lives of local residents and strengthen local government systems in a war-torn region. photo: JICA/Akio Iizuka (2012 photo)
Accelerate the development of the business environment that Africa needs. Human resource development and start-up support will be key.
-The main theme of TICAD has now shifted from poverty reduction to increased investment in Africa and private sector cooperation. How has JICA’s cooperation in Africa in the industrial sector changed over time?
Yanase: In the 2000s, Africa began to achieve economic growth, and many African countries began to set “poverty reduction through economic growth” as a development goal. I was stationed in the Ghana Office and supported Japanese companies such as SONY and Ajinomoto in their activities in Africa. At that time, however, I think the activities were still more like corporate social contribution activities.
Subsequently, the 6th TICAD was held in Kenya, Africa, for the first time in 2016, with nearly 3,000 Japanese business people participating, and there were expectations of increased investment in Africa by Japanese companies as full-fledged business development. However, the reality is that after peaking around this time, the balance of investment in Africa by Japanese companies has begun to decline. The big question now is what role JICA can play as a catalyst for the expansion of private investment.
-What initiatives does JICA have in mind for expanding private investment in Africa in the future?
Yanase: First of all, we need to develop human resources to link business in Africa and Japan. Among these, the ABE Initiative announced at the 5th TICAD (African Business and Human Resources Initiative for Young People, or “ABE”) is a program that aims to develop human resources to link Africa and Japan:
Through the African Business Education Initiative for Youth, JICA promotes the development of industrial human resources to support Japanese companies’ business in Africa. To date, more than 1,600 young Africans have been accepted into the program, which not only provides them with opportunities to study at Japanese graduate schools, but also to interact with Japanese companies and learn business skills, including internships at Japanese companies. Many of our graduates are active as bridges between Japan and Africa, including employment at Japanese companies.
We have also established a social networking group that includes ABE Initiative alumni and people from the private sector, and currently has more than 1,000 participants. We hope to encourage Japanese companies to expand into Africa by matching alumni with companies.
With ABE Initiative graduates and others. Mr. Yanase said that he heard people say they would like to work for Japanese companies, but that it is sometimes difficult because of the high level of Japanese language skills required.
Another is support for startups in Africa, where JICA has been developing a program called Project NINJA since 2020 to nurture local startups. In a business contest targeting 19 African countries, a Ghanaian startup that won a special award is now collaborating with the Rakuten Group of Japan, for example.
Comparing the style of cooperation to driving a car, Africa itself sits in the driving seat. Japan advises from the passenger seat.
-TICAD is promoting cooperation with the African Union and related organizations to boost African-led development. What kind of cooperation has JICA promoted in this process?
Yanase: When I assumed the position of Director of the Africa Department in October 2022 and began to take a bird’s-eye view of Africa as a whole, I reaffirmed the need to strengthen relations with the African Union and other regional partners in Africa, which I had not really been aware of when I had been stationed in the local offices in Ghana and Mozambique. The African continent is large and diverse, with more than 50 countries. As the population continues to grow, if all countries are not left behind and do not develop equally, African society as a whole could become unstable.
In 2013, the African Union formulated Agenda 2063 as a long-term vision for inclusive growth in Africa. To support the creation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), one of the goals of the Agenda 2063, JICA is promoting trade facilitation and road infrastructure development. Since there are many landlocked countries in Africa, it is important to strengthen connectivity among countries in order for Africa to grow as a whole.
To the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), which is the implementing agency for this Agenda 2063, JICA is currently sending several Japanese experts as advisors to the Director General in areas such as regional integration and kaizen, as well as to support the achievement of development goals.
JICA’s approach to cooperation in Africa is to co-create with Africa, respecting Africa’s own ideas and self-help efforts. JICA provides advice from the passenger seat to support Africans in their efforts to become self-reliant, and sometimes works with them to find ways to do so.
Director Yanase says he will focus more on working with the African Union, which aims to create a political and economic union in Africa.
-Please tell us about JICA’s challenge to further strengthen relations with Africa, a “partner for mutual growth,” and to prepare for the 9th TICAD to be held in Yokohama in 2025.
Yanase: Nowadays, it is far from possible for Japan alone to solve Africa’s problems. Under the goal of “Energize Africa,” the African Union Development Agency is focusing on education and employment, especially for young people, to achieve Agenda 2063. In the future, it will be necessary to collaborate with private companies with excellent digital technology to effectively support the use of DX (Digital Transformation).
In addition, the infrastructure development plan (PIDA) for market expansion and other projects in the African region requires $130-170 billion in annual funding, nearly half of which is not expected to be raised. We believe that our challenge is to fill this financing gap by involving the private sector through the TICAD process.
In May of this year, I visited three African countries. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, I participated in the 40th anniversary celebration of a bridge built with JICA assistance, and was surprised to see that the bridge was so well maintained that it was hard to believe that 40 years had passed since the civil war. The people who were involved in the construction of the bridge at that time were passing on their skills to the younger generation, and their knowledge was being handed down from generation to generation. JICA’s support for human resource development was truly alive and well.
Whenever I visit Africa, I always feel invigorated. I am reminded of the happiness that cannot be measured by economic wealth alone, the strength of human bonds, and the compassion for others, all of which are important things that we Japanese have forgotten. Africa is full of young people and full of vitality. I would like to continue to work hard so that the future of Africa’s young people will be bright and so that Africa and Japan can be energized together as “partners who grow together.
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