Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly left for Japan on Monday to attend the ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9), where his Japanese counterpart, Shigeru Ishiba, is expected to propose a new economic integration initiative spanning from the Indian Ocean to Africa.
Madbouly is attending the three-day conference in Yokohama from Aug. 20-22 on behalf of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
He is scheduled to participate in the opening session alongside the Japanese prime minister, African heads of state and government, and the heads of international and African organisations.
On the sidelines of the summit, Madbouly is slated to hold a number of high-level meetings and meet with officials from Japanese and African organisations, as well as the heads of major Japanese companies. He will also participate in a Japan-Egypt Business Council forum to discuss opportunities for cooperation between Egyptian and Japanese companies.
At the summit, Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba will announce a plan to facilitate trade and investment for Japanese companies operating in Africa, according to government officials. The new framework will include a forum to promote third-country logistics models, as a growing number of Japanese businesses export goods to Africa from production hubs in India and the Middle East.
Japan plans to use its Official Development Assistance programmes to strengthen logistics networks connecting Africa to the broader region.
Ishiba will also announce a new joint task force involving industry, academia, and government to explore ways to strengthen Japan-Africa economic partnerships. The move is seen as part of Japan’s efforts to promote its Free and Open Indo-Pacific vision and to counter China’s growing presence and influence across Africa.
TICAD, co-organised by the Japanese government, the African Union Commission, and the United Nations, has been a cornerstone of Japan’s Africa policy since its establishment in 1993.
