TICAD Opens with 50 African Countries in Attendance

The seventh edition of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) kicked off in Yokohama, Japan with the presence of 50 heads of state and ministers from Africa, including Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD).

Gedu Andargachew, minister of Foreign Affairs, Seleshi Bekele (PhD), minister of Irrigation & Electricity, Getahun Mekuria (PhD), minister of Innovation & Technology, and Ahmed Hamza (B. Gen), director-general of the military-run industrial conglomerate Metals & Engineering Corporation (MetEC), accompanied Prime Minister Abiy among other government officials.

Themed as "Africa and Yokohama, Sharing Passion for the Future," TICAD is hosted by the Japanese government with the collaboration of the United Nations, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), World Bank and African Union.

During the opening of the summit, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that a total of 25.6 billion dollars was invested by private Japanese companies in Africa over the past three years.

"The Japanese government will make an utmost effort, so that the amount of private investment will surpass the current value,'' he said.

The session, which will last for three days, will also be attended by 40 representatives of private companies from Ethiopia. Representatives of Gift Real State, Waryt Mulutila International, Technostyle Plc, Yohannes Abbay Consulting Architects & Engineers and Mullege Plc are among the local companies that are attending the three-day summit in Japan.

The Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce & Sectoral Association is also attending the summit.

As a side event, the Ethio-Japan Business Seminar will be held on Friday. The seminar, organised by the Ethiopian Embassy in Japan, is expected to showcase the Ethiopian business and investment climate including the current progress on the industrial parks and integrated agro-industrial parks, export promotion and future prospects. The Seminar will host business-to-business and government-to-government deals.

Inaugurated in 1993, TICAD was held every five years until its fifth session in 2013 in Yokohama. Since then, it has been held every three years, with its first session being held in Africa three years ago in Nairobi, Kenya.

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