AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT SPECIAL / TICAD 9 to Focus on Cooperative Industrial, Economic Development of Africa

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:45 JST, August 20, 2025

The inaugural summit of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) was arranged by Japan and took place in Tokyo in 1993. Gatherings since then have been co-organized by the United Nations, the World Bank and the African Union Commission.

The first five conferences were held at five-year intervals, but that was shortened to three years after 2013. Since then, TICAD has also alternated between being held at Japanese and African venues.

Based on the key idea of cocreation with African nations, issues facing Africa such as industrial development, health care and disaster prevention were expected to be discussed at the TICAD 9 through Friday.

The Japanese government is considering announcing an initiative to support economic growth by leveraging Japan’s advanced AI and digital technologies. It also plans to announce the Indian Ocean and Africa economic zone initiative that will help develop a logistics network covering Africa and the Indian Ocean as a single economic zone.

Participants also were expected to exchange views on measures for dealing with potential “debt traps,” in which African nations’ debt levels could balloon due to massive loans extended by China, and on the impact on the African economy of the tariff measures of the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Africa is rich in natural resources such as crude oil, copper and rare metals, and the economy is projected to grow due to its increasing population.

Japan recognizes 54 African countries as sovereign states, making them important partners in forming major blocs at international forums, including the United Nations.

During the Cold War era, the United States and Russia sought to draw African countries into their respective camps. Since the end of that period, the TICAD has played a leading role in the development of Africa.

In its early stages, TICAD provided nations with assistance in the form of grant aid in areas such as education and health. However, it later began to put more emphasis on investment, including with private funds, as a way to supplement the limited public money available for assistance from the Japanese government and to link African economic growth to the revitalization of Japanese companies.