Ex-PM Kishida Vows Job Training for Africa, Plus Japan’s Support for a Permanent African Seat on the U.N. Security Council

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:15 JST, August 21, 2025

Former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Thursday announced plans to provide job training to 300,000 people in Africa over the next three years in the fields of industrial development, healthcare, agriculture and artificial intelligence to promote the continent’s economic growth.

The plan was announced during a speech that Kishida made on the second day of the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9) in Yokohama. Kishida is an acting cochair of the event.

“We will maximize the potential of young human resources, which is Africa’s greatest strength,” Kishida said at a plenary session, showing Japan’s intention to promote economic diversification and job creation through industrial human resource development.

Kishida also emphasized in the speech Japan’s development assistance and industrial promotion support.

“The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will mobilize private funds and implement effective development assistance through impact investing,” Kishida said, referring to investments aimed at advancing social and environmental solutions.

Japan plans to invest a total of $1.5 billion (¥220 billion) in areas such as climate change and health care through public-private partnerships.

Kishida also called for promoting the expansion of Japanese companies and African industrial growth through the Japan Africa Co-Creation for Industry, an initiative in which African startups and Japanese companies jointly develop industries.

With recent U.S. tariff measures in mind, Kishida also said, “Japan supports the maintenance and strengthening of a multilateral trade system based on rules centered on the World Trade Organization.”

At a plenary session held on the previous day, Kishida called on African leaders to cooperate on reforming the United Nations Security Council. Japan is part of the “Group of Four,” together with Germany, India and Brazil, who aim to become permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, and Japan also supports Africa’s bid for a permanent seat.

“Japan is determined to cooperate with Africa in pursuing this [reform] and bear the responsibility together for ensuring peace and security,” Kishida said.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, meanwhile, attended on Thursday morning a ceremony to present to the public agreements signed among governments and private sector entities from Japan and African countries. The number of cooperation documents signed exceeded 300, more than three times the number signed at the previous conference held in Tunisia in 2022.

Ishiba held talks with the leaders of the Central African Republic, Gambia and Sao Tome and Principe individually on Thursday morning, exchanging views on the development of bilateral relations through education promotion and human resource development support.