(Tunis) Japan has promised “close collaboration” with Africa, in order to promote a “more resilient” economy there in the face of crises and epidemics, and more “security” on a continent undermined by wars and terrorism, during of a summit in Tunis.
Posted at 12:41 p.m.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said it was essential to “remedy a historic injustice” for Africa to gain a permanent seat on the UN Security Council and Japan, he said, would push in that direction when he will be a non-permanent member in 2023-2024.
Japan intends to “create an environment where the African people can live in peace and security in order to be able to develop”, explained Mr. Kishida, by videoconference from Tokyo, because positive for COVID-19.
This theme was developed at length by the Senegalese President and current President of the African Union (AU) Macky Sall, claiming that “mentalities change”.
“What destabilizes us and prevents us from developing must be taken into account by the Security Council, whose mission it is,” added Mr. Sall. “Africa is the soft underbelly of international terrorism”, “we need a global response”, he pleaded.
“Peace and Security”
Emphasizing to the press that some West African countries “devote 30% of their budget to the fight against terrorism”, Mr. Sall pleaded for “these new charges” for African armies “to be taken out of the calculation deficit”. He further called on donors to contribute to the AU Peace Fund.
Nearly 20 African Heads of State and Government attended Tunis on the 8e Ticad summit (Tokyo International Conference for African Development) which brought together 5,000 participants on Saturday and Sunday, also invited to a forum of entrepreneurs and parallel conferences.
Japan, which announced on Saturday the granting of 30 billion dollars of private and public funds to Africa over three years, has planned a “peace and security” component for the training of police officers, assistance in the organization elections, border control.
Concrete aid of $8.3 million will be allocated in particular to the Sahelian region of Liptako-Gourma, straddling Mali, Burkina-Faso and Niger, devastated by jihadist attacks.
Japan has also decided to appoint an ambassador for the Horn of Africa, where “the situation is deteriorating”, noted Mr. Kishida, with an influx of refugees and food shortages.
“The African continent continues to suffer, we have seen repeated acts of violence there. Sadly in Libya, the situation flared up again yesterday,” Tunisian President Kais Saied, host of the summit, told the media.
Like Macky Sall, Mr. Saied called for “a new approach” to international development aid for Africa, for highly indebted countries (like Tunisia) and to transform “debts into investments”.
“Supporting recovery”
He regretted the emigration of human resources from the South to the North, after a “looting” of the resources of African countries, “from outside and from within, often by their own leaders”.
Mr. Sall referred to “a rescheduling or cancellation of debts” and reiterated the African demand for a “reallocation of special drawing rights” from the IMF, and “the implementation of the suspension of debt service” (reimbursement of interests) promised by the G20, a group of the 20 leading world economies.
“Faced with the double crisis we are going through”, under the effect of COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine, he considered these measures necessary “to support the recovery of our economies”.
The Tunis Declaration, adopted on Sunday, expressed “deep concern” over the impact of the war in Ukraine which has “created food insecurity in Africa”. The leaders call for “a resumption of exports of cereals, agricultural products and fertilizers” to Africa.
The Declaration takes up the three main axes of Japan’s cooperation with Africa: an acceleration of growth with investments in the green economy and start-ups, a “resilient economy” with support for the production of medicines and vaccines and food security and “peace and security” by supporting mediations and conflict prevention.