PRESS REVIEW
TICAD VI
TICAD VI: THE WORLD’ S LARGEST CONFERENCE ON DEVELOPMENT
VALUABLE PRIVATE MEETINGS WITH JAPAN’ S PRIME MINISTER:
The Agence de presse du Sénégal( APS) reported Senegalese President, Macky Sall’ s announcement that Japan will finance the program Senegalese Universal Health Coverage( CMU) for 41 billion frs CFA.
SHOULD JAPAN IMPROVE ITS IMPORTS FROM AFRICA:
Quoting Kenya’ s Vice-President, Mr. Ruto, the Daily Nation( Kenya) said“ Africa accounted for only 3 % of global trade. Meanwhile, Africa’ s population is said to surpass that of India and China combined by 2050. Unless the trade imbalance is reversed as a matter of urgency, this will accentuate vulnerability, poverty, risk of insecurity and instability for both Africa and the rest of the world,” he said.
THE NAIROBI DECLARATION: PEACE AND SECURITY ISSUES:
In reference to the rule of law, Nippon. com submitted an analysis of the Nairobi Declaration:“ Along with highlighting Japan’ s commitment to
African development, TICAD VI was also clearly intended to counter China’ s growing influence.”
The Chinese media offered a more critical perspective on this issue. The Xinhua Africa News Agency accused Japan of using TICAD for political gains. For China Daily, there is a need for more project coordination, as China’ s Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister, Zhang Ming cast doubt on Japan’ s financial promise, adding that“ impressive proposals are made during international forum, but very little is achieved in the implementation phase.”
For The Citizen( Tanzania) newspaper:“ Prime Minister’ s Abe speech at TICAD VI was a well-crafted speech to avoid any diplomatic disaster”.
JAPAN’ S NEED TO UPGRADE ITS BUSINESS PERCEPTIONS OF AFRICA:
The African Business magazine recognizes that“ Japan is slowly taking a more business-minded approach to Africa. But so far, this focus has been limited to strategic commodities rather than media. Mobile phone penetration in Africa increased from 10 % in 2001 to more than 80 % in key markets today; 4G mobile networks and fibre-optic data networks are being constructed all over the continent; and while only a fraction of Africans currently have access to high-speed internet, that number is growing daily.(..) Greater engagement between Japanese media producers and African audiences could help to widen this relationship beyond aid.”
JAPAN’ S SUCCESSFUL CHARM OFFENSIVE IN AFRICA
TICAD VI will be remembered through Japan’ s pledge to mobilize a total of 30 billion USD in private-public sector funds to invest in Africa over next three years.
Overall, the media coverage during TICAD VI has been respectful. For Japanese media, such as The Japan Times,“ TICAD VI is a paradigm shift geared toward moving from official development and assistanceoriented programs to private sector centered policies for increased trade and investment. The development is envisaged to strengthen a mutually beneficial business partnership between Japan and Africa and other global development partners”. For African media, including All African news platform,“ TICAD VI has been a very successful Japan’ s charm offensive in Africa”. Stay tune for the next TICAD VII to be held 2019 in Yokohama, Japan.
32 // OCTOBER 2016 JAPAN AND THE WORLD MAGAZINE