'Cooperation rather than aid': How Japan plans to spend $30B in Africa

At this year’s 8th Tokyo International Conference on African Development, or TICAD 8, Japan pledged $30 billion in aid over 3 years to the African continent. Though expert observers said the figure does not represent a step change in Japan’s spending, it is a $10 billion increase from the previous set of pledges at TICAD 7 in 2019. The move has been described as a bid to counter Chinese influence, but Tokyo insists it is not in competition. Instead, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida described Japan's commitment as a contribution from “a partner growing together with Africa.” China committed $40 billion in investment, credit lines, trade, and Special Drawing Rights over three years at the 2021 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation last year. But that was a fall of $20 billion on a commitment at the previous conference in 2018. “We believe that our role in Africa is not to compare or compete with other donors, but to meet the true needs of the African people,” the Japan International Cooperation Agency said in a statement to Devex. Where will the money go? Japan’s investment will go toward programs focused on climate change, innovation, and vaccine inequity among others. In response to the food crisis, Japan committed $300 million to strengthen food production through the African Development Bank’s African Emergency Food Production Facility and another $130 million in food assistance. JICA and the private sector also committed to providing $400 million in loans to the Partnership for African Vaccine Manufacturing while the government-owned insurance firm, Nippon Export Investment Insurance and other private sector players committed $200 million for the procurement of vaccines through the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust. Another $4 billion was earmarked for Japan's Green Growth Initiative with Africa, which aims to provide a structural transition to decarbonization. The initiative will include financing for mitigation and adaptation and promote private sector investment in hydrogen energy and other renewable energy projects. Alex Vines, director of the Africa program at Chatham House, said these pledges were not a sudden leap or departure from pledges made at previous TICADs. “The sum is in line with Japan’s nominal commitments in earlier years, and with its wider approach to distinguishing its engagement with Africa from other partners on the basis of longevity, consistency and ‘quality,’” he said. Vine added that TICAD 8 also reaffirmed the centrality of a private sector-led approach in Japan’s engagement with Africa. The funding included $5 billion in private sector support through the Enhanced Private Sector Assistance for Africa initiative with AfDB. JICA said that their cooperation with the private sector reflects “the real needs in market development, start-ups, agribusiness, healthcare, environment, and energy including “green energy” are important.” Regional stability At TICAD 8, Kishida also reiterated Japan’s support for an African seat at the United Nations Security Council — an issue that is important to the continent given that the AU has been increasingly vocal about Africa’s need for representation on the Security Council in the context of heightened global insecurity. --“Japan is an important part of the strategic autonomy strategies of African countries, particularly in terms of diversifying relations and reducing partner dependency among Asian partners.” Alex — Alex Vines, director of the Africa program, Chatham House Japan was elected to hold a nonpermanent seat on the council for the years 2023 and 2024. At TICAD, Japan acknowledged “the need to redress the historical injustice against Africa” and called for “full African representation in the Security Council, through not less than two Permanent seats … and five Non-permanent seats, in line with the African Common Position.” Theo Beal, an academy fellow at Chatham House’s Asia-Pacific program, said Japan’s backing is an extension of the Free and Open Indo-Pacific initiative, which aims to consolidate principles such as free trade, freedom of navigation, and the rule of law in the region. “The proposal aligns with Japan’s pursuit of a rules-based order that preserves peace and prosperity. Representation from African nations would also build confidence and reduce risk for public and private investment from Japan in projects on the continent,” he said. Kishida said regional stabilization is a prerequisite for Africa to unleash the potential of its people and a strong “rule-based, free, and open international order” is needed to realize the peace and prosperity of Africa. Is TICAD unique? An assessment of the TICAD process found that Japan presents “development assistance that is very different from the orientation of the Washington Consensus” — which places the control and policy direction of aid in the hands of donor countries. Instead TICAD places emphasis on African ownership by putting “the design, implementation and control of development projects under the control of recipient countries.” Speaking at a Center for Strategic and International Studies forum earlier this year, Ambassador Koji Yonetani, the secretary-general of TICAD 8, said African ownership is the basic principle shared through the TICAD process. “We know that such changes are possible when desired and implemented by African leaders and people,” he said. “This is why we underscore the importance for the international partners to support the African-led development process.” At the project level, JICA said that it implements its cooperation in partnership with Africa by inviting African governments to propose and request projects reflecting priorities and needs for their development policies and plans. “We invite [governments] to share responsibility for project implementation and sustainability in terms of budget and staff. In addition, to ensure project sustainability, we strongly focus on capacity building and institutional development of project partners,” JICA said in its statement to Devex. “This is why we describe our engagement as "cooperation" rather than aid or assistance,” JICA said. Chatham House’s Beal and Vines said that Japan also provides an alternative for African countries and weans them of dependence on a single donor. “Japan is an important part of the strategic autonomy strategies of African countries, particularly in terms of diversifying relations and reducing partner dependency among Asian partners,” Vines said. Beal added that other donors are moving toward the well-established model of Japanese development “which is loan-based, infrastructure-led financing with the aim to encourage consequent private sector mobilization.” But the challenge is whether they will engage efficiently with one another.