Arab News Japan

TOKYO: Japan International Cooperation Organization (JICA) held a media roundtable on May 11 toward TICAD 8 (Tokyo International Conference on African Development) scheduled for this summer, the first conference since the world experienced the corona disaster following the TICAD 7 held in Yokohama in 2019.

Ryuichi Kato, JICA’s vice president in charge of Africa, highlighted the importance of the conference. “As Covid-19 and the Ukraine crisis is lowering attention and international cooperation toward Africa, TICAD 8 refocuses attention on Africa and enables African-led solutions to Africa’s challenges.”

Tokyo-based JICA is one of the world’s largest public development assistance institutions, established in 2003. It opened 96 overseas offices, including 31 in Africa, and provided 15 billion dollars in support in 2020.

The TICAD 8 will be co-hosted by the Japanese government, the United Nations, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the World Bank and the African Union Commission (AUC) and will be held in Tunisia from August 27 to 28.