from All Africa The Nation (Nairobi)By Godffrey OlaliNairobiCivil society groups have observed critical gaps in some key deliberations made at the recently concluded Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD).The meeting which took place in Yokohama, Japan, between May 28 and 30, has met stiff criticism from key players, who are afraid that Tokyo might not be at a vantage position to present Africa's problems during next month's G8 summit in Japan."Japanese and African civil society have noted with disappointment the omission of civil society as participants in the proposal for the follow -up mechanism," observes Ms Sue Mbaya, an Advocacy director with World Vision, African region.She cited the trade agenda as a key issue which was not properly tackled during...
from All Africa New Vision (Kampala)By Felix OsikeKampalaJapan has launched a major economic and diplomatic strategy to tackle development in Africa.But questions are being asked why the world's second largest economy is evolving partnership with Africa.Heads of State and government from 52 African countries and other representatives of international organisations met last week in Yokohama to hammer out a blueprint for African development.Africa's influence in global affairs is rapidly growing. But it is the continent where the bottom billions of the world's poor live. Under the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) held every five years, Japan stresses the importance of Africa exercising full ownership of its own development agenda, while maintaining partnership...
from AsahiBY TARO KARASAKI,Irungu Houghton, pan-African director for Oxfam International, the Britain-based group set up to fight poverty, says the quality of aid, not just the amount, should be a key factor in pledges of assistance to Africa. Oxfam Japan has been granted observer status to attend TICAD IV. Excerpts from a recent interview with The Asahi Shimbun follow:Q: What would you like to see achieved at the conference?A: TICAD is very established as a process to discuss development issues.Many African citizens expect the decisions that come out of it are going to lead to tangible results in poverty reduction in Africa. So there is an expectation that important decisions will be made.TICAD IV is happening in a context where, according to Oxfam research, there is a public mandate...
from Africasia Rock star and poverty activist Bono said Tuesday that Japan's pledge to double its aid to Africa was "a fantastic news" but poor nations deserve more, a day before an African development meeting in Yokohama.Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda is expected to formally announce the plan -- which will see assistance doubled by 2012 -- at the conference this week.A Tokyo official last week said the money was part of Japan's efforts to help the impoverished continent fight poverty and civil war."The Japanese government told us about doubling aid. It's a fantastic news. But you have to ask the question, is it really doubling the aid, or just one piece of aid?" Bono told reporters after giving a speech at Tokyo's Keio University."The bilateral aid was doubled, but we have to see...
from the AFP via GoogleTOKYO, Japan announced Friday it will give 560 million dollars to help fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria as it seeks to make aid to Africa a major theme of its chairmanship of the G8 group.Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda said the fresh assistance would be channelled through the Geneva-based Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.He said the aid would be given "in the coming years" from 2009, but did not specify how many years it would extend over."HIV/AIDS is poised to inflict an even heavier toll than even the plague in the Middle Ages, becoming the most damaging infectious disease in human history," Fukuda said in a speech.He said about five million people around the world were dying every year from AIDS and the other diseases."Amidst these...
from Reuters Africa TOKYO, May 20 (Reuters) - Japan plans to double annual foreign aid to Africa by 2012, the government said on Tuesday, to strengthen ties with the resource-rich continent and win support for its bid for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.Japan, which is preparing to host the fourth round of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) on May 28-30, faces rising competition from China and India for Africa's natural resources such as rare metals.Tokyo aims to raise its annual aid to African nations to 200 billion yen ($1.9 billion) by 2012, double the amount for 2007, Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura told a news conference. That includes yen loans and grant aids but not debt relief, an official at the foreign ministry...
from All AfricaThe Nation (Nairobi)NEWS19 May 2008Posted to the web 19 May 2008By Godffrey OlaliNairobiThe Japanese Government will soon roll out an ambitious plan aimed at bringing rapid development in Africa.The plan will be laid bare at a key meeting bringing together more than 2,000 delegates from Africa and Asia later this month.In Kenya, Japan plans to fund the construction of Mombasa Port container terminal whose work only awaits approval from a consultant.Tokyo has also promised to send $20 million (Sh1.2 billion) to Kenya for resettling Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and buying farm inputs like fertiliser.The summit, the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), will be held between May 28 and 30, with its key priorities being boosting economic...
from The Daily YomiuriThe Yomiuri ShimbunThe government will double its official development assistance to African countries over the next five years, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda likely will announce the government's plan at the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV) to be held in Yokohama from May 28 to 30.By increasing its development aid, the government is aiming to support the agricultural and economic development of African countries, especially sub-Saharan nations in which serious conflict abounds and citizens suffer from extreme poverty.In 2005, Japan promised the African countries it would double its ODA in three years. A senior Foreign Ministry official said the amount is increasing steadily and he is confident the...
from World Politics Review Jason Miks TOKYO -- As expected, at the meeting here of G-8 development ministers earlier this month, rich countries reaffirmed their commitment to tackling poverty in Africa and pledged to fulfill past promises of aid to developing countries.Yet for host nation Japan, the meeting came at an awkward time, coinciding with the release of a report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development stating that Japan's net official development assistance (ODA) fell 30 percent in real terms in 2007 from a year earlier.The latest figure means Japan has now dropped to fifth place among the world's major aid donors, its lowest position since 1972, and a far cry from the 1990s, when Japan consistently topped the United States.The decline is proving of concern...
from AFP via GoogleTOKYO (AFP) — When Kiyoshi Baba stopped a top police officer for running a red light in Nepal, he was not only pushing a safety message far from his native Japan, he was also projecting Japanese influence abroad.In leaving for Nepal, Baba was contributing to one of Japan's most visible efforts to retain its global influence despite a soaring public debt that has choked the country's funds for "pocketbook diplomacy."Tokyo has slashed aid to developing countries by 40 percent since 1997, and will reduce it by four percent a year until 2011, according to a plan created by former premier Junichiro Koizumi.Japan was the world's top aid donor until 2000. By 2006, it had slipped to third behind the United States and Britain, and in four more years could fall to sixth, says...
from Reuters DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Japan has given Tanzania 2.3 billion yen in loans and grants to help the country fight poverty and HIV, Tanzania's Finance Ministry said on Tuesday.Of the total, a 2 billion yen loan will support the east African nation's budget, the ministry said. The rest will pay for medicines and test kits to counter the threat of HIV/AIDS.About 2 million Tanzanians, out of a population of some 40 million, are infected with HIV, Tanzania's government says.The country is among the continent's top recipients of donor aid, with 42 percent of its 2007-08 budget funded by...
from The Japan TimesBy YASUSHI AZUMAKyodo NewsDevelopment experts lament recent cuts in Japanese foreign aid and are calling for a reversal of the trend, saying such spending benefits Japan's interests in addition to helping millions in poverty.Kiyoshi Kodera, executive secretary of the Development Committee, a joint ministerial panel of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, said Japan has already cut too much of its foreign aid budget."Of course, fiscal consolidation is very important for Japan," said Kodera, a former Finance Ministry bureaucrat. "But Japan should make a contribution to match its position as the world's second-largest economy."The government again plans to cut spending for official development assistance in the fiscal 2008 budget. The planned reduction is...
from AsahiBY HIROTSUGU MOCHIZUKI AND KEIICHI KANEKOTHE ASAHI SHIMBUNAs Japan looks ahead to hosting a Group of Eight (G-8) summit that will focus on Africa, along with a major international conference on African development, it is being forced to rethink its own aid program for the continent. At a time when the United States and European countries are expanding poverty alleviation efforts in Africa and when China, with an eye on Africa's natural resources, is also pouring in more money, Japan is the odd one out.Overall foreign aid budgets have been slashed in recent years and Tokyo is finding it increasingly difficult to come up with the cash to increase aid to Africa.Japan has hosted the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) every five years since 1993, and it...
from Reuters Alert NetThe Government of Japan announced today a major contribution of US$20.8 million (JPY2.52 billion) to WFP which will assist millions of vulnerable and chronically food insecure people in 13 countries spread throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America.The funds will be used to buy food including cereals, pulses, fortified blended food and canned tuna.This significant contribution from Japan gives special attention to Africa, with two-thirds of the package (US$13.9 million; JPY1.68 billion) allocated to WFP’s social protection programmes in nine African countries.Generous support“We sincerely appreciate this most generous support from Japan,” said Eri Kudo, Officer-in-Charge of WFP Office in Japan. “Many households in these countries are persistently unable to...