Aid to Regional Partnerships: Japan’s New Strategic Approach to Economic Engagement with Africa
The ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9) was held in the picturesque port city of Yokohama from 20th to 22nd August 2025. Since TICAD’s inception in 1993, it has served as one of the “soft levers” used by the Government and People of Japan to positively influence Africa’s development in areas such as governance, development, climate change, and women’s empowerment, among others. The event occurred at a pivotal moment, when America’s support for the continent continues to wane and China’s influence rises, emphasising Africa’s increasing strategic importance in the global economic order. The conference was attended by representatives from 49 African countries, including Ghana’s President, H.E. John Mahama, as well as representatives from the African Union and the United Nations.
The conference, which centered on co-creating innovative solutions to meet Africa’s pressing challenges through Japanese technology, marked a significant shift from traditional donor-recipient dynamics to genuine economic partnerships. The Japanese Prime Minister, Mr. Shigeru Ishiba, who co-chaired the conference, announced a new initiative dubbed “Indian Ocean–Africa economic zone.” The new initiative aims to enhance trade and investment ties between Japan, India, and the Middle East and Africa. The Prime Minister also pledged a US$5.5 billion loan facility, channelled through the African Development Bank, to advance sustainable development programmes and ease public debt burdens across African countries. Additionally, Japan committed to training approximately thirty thousand Africans over the next three years in Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support Africa’s digitalisation efforts and provide future-ready skills to boost job creation among the continent’s burgeoning youth.
Beyond the traditional aid frameworks that advanced nations have long provided to Africa, TICAD 9 stood out by recognising Africa’s increasing influence in the global economic order. As Japan’s Prime Minister noted, the days when the West ignored Africa’s progress are well behind us. The realisation that solutions developed in Africa can benefit the wider world should serve as a strong catalyst for the continent to deepen its contributions to humanity. The PM’s pledge that “Japan hopes to maintain reliable partnerships with the continent, providing each other with solutions” is more than a mere diplomatic politeness; it is a strategic call to action. Africa must treat it as a call to action, engaging as an equal partner in shaping innovations and policies that will define our shared future.
To sustain such a partnership, the failed model of exporting Western-based ready-made solutions without considering local realities must be abandoned. The future lies in co-creation, with Africa working alongside global partners to develop solutions that address shared human challenges. No one is better placed to identify and develop solutions to African problems than Africans themselves. Full participation on the global stage is not only a matter of fairness; it is a strategic necessity in confronting transnational threats such as climate change, cybercrime, and the misuse of technology.
The call for Africa to demand a stronger voice on global issues is also long overdue. As the UN Secretary-General aptly observed, it is indefensible that a continent of 54 nations, faced with some of the world’s most complex challenges, still lacks a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. An equally troubling issue relates to Africa’s chronic underrepresentation in the international financial system, which restricts access to competitive funding and drives up borrowing costs. This structural bias, whether conscious or not, has repeatedly undermined the continent’s developmental aspirations. If the world is serious about enabling a true paradigm shift in Africa, it must first dismantle the Western-centric financing architecture and replace it with a system that removes barriers to affordable capital and accelerates the transfer of transformative technologies to developing countries.
Another notable development from the conference was the strong enthusiasm from Japanese private sector companies to increase investments in Africa. In furtherance of this goal, a Japanese firm, Degas Limited, announced a US$100 million investment plan for an AI-powered agricultural hub in Ghana. Already, Degas Limited is supporting over 80,000 smallholder farmers in Ghana with technology-enabled skills to improve crop security and yields. The investments are expected to further promote AI-driven satellite monitoring and precision agriculture techniques, enabling farmers to increase yields, reduce risks, and access reasonably priced financing. Undoubtedly, targeted support systems like this will ultimately create more jobs for the continent’s youth and women.
However, attracting private sector investment is only the first step; the true measure of success lies in sustaining these initiatives beyond the intervention phase and embedding them into daily practice. This requires strong, long-term R&D support for higher education institutions to sustain the pipeline of global ideas, particularly in agriculture, where such knowledge will be decisive in shaping localised solutions to Africa’s most urgent challenges. To speed up this transition, African governments should mandate that all future private investments forge deep, operational partnerships with research institutions, ensuring that the technologies deployed are fully understood, adapted, and optimised for local impact.
Japan’s strong endorsement of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 is noteworthy, as it reinforces and empowers initiatives conceived and led by Africans themselves. Agenda 2063 outlines a pathway towards inclusive, sustainable socio-economic transformation by translating the ideals of unity, self-determination, freedom, progress, and shared prosperity into concrete results, based on the principles of Pan-Africanism and the African Renaissance. At its core, the strategic framework aims to realise Africa’s vision of “an integrated, prosperous and peaceful continent, driven by its own citizens and acting as a dynamic force in the global arena.”
TICAD 9 proved, for the most part, to be a success, focusing on the continent’s most pressing challenges amid a period of significant global uncertainty. Multilateralism is fraying, regional conflicts are escalating, the specter of nuclear escalation looms, technology is being abused, and climate crises are intensifying. In this context, Africa’s chance to elevate its voice on the global stage is now, or it risks losing it forever. TICAD must act as a launchpad for Africa to shape the global narrative towards a sustainable and equitable future. In doing so, Africa will be responding to Japan’s call for the continent to claim its rightful place in the international community.
