Browsing: Japan

In the wake of the global economic slowdown, JETRO has opened a support desk to assist Japanese companies expansion in Africa and also helping African firms enter the Japan market, JETRO CEO Sasaki said.

The forum highlighted the importance of supporting startups, emphasis on green investment, development of human resources and Africa food security.

Through the JETRO forum, the Japanese business community launched an investment fund for startups in Africa valued at over 10 billion yen.

JETRO CEO Sasaki said the forum also catapulted launch of the Green Growth Initiative with Africa valued at 4 billion dollars that will finance public and private cooperation ‘toward a structural transformation to achieving net zero.’…

• Japan has announced plans of investing $42 billion in India over the next five years to boost trade and cooperation between the two Asian nations
• Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the investment would be spread across several industries, including green energy and urban infrastructure
• The two countries also committed to strengthening securities ties across the Indo-Pacific region during the visit

Japan will invest $42 billion in India over the next five years to boost trade and cooperation between the two Asian nations.

Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the investment would be spread across several industries, including green energy and urban infrastructure.

He announced the investment deal during his first state visit to India since taking up office.

The two countries also committed to strengthening securities ties across the Indo-Pacific region during the visit.

They also discussed the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.

“The Russian attack is a serious matter as …

• Egypt’s automotive industry is one of the sectors benefiting from the wider economic uplift.
• New vehicle sales in Egypt have recently surged to more than 200,000 units per year, with around half of this figure assembled locally, the whitepaper found.
• The country is home to one of Africa’s largest vehicle fleets with around six million vehicles on the country’s roads, the majority of which are passenger cars (approximately 4.6 million).

A boom in Egypt’s automotive parts industry is being fueled by a burgeoning population, vehicle sales growth and government moves to combat auto emissions, according to a new report highlighting the sector.

The combination of these factors, against a backdrop of post-pandemic economic growth, has accelerated the Egyptian market for car spare parts, accessories, and vehicle components, which is now worth between $1-2 bn, German consultants Africon GmbH say.

This is despite Egypt’s crisis with international companies with whom they …

While Nigeria is the largest exporter for Sesame seeds, there’s still a lot of untapped potential of the lucrative export business this even as the seeds demand increases  globally.

According to United states market based research report known as Hexa Research the Global sesame seeds market size is expected to hit $17.77 billion by 2025.

The fueling market demand was associated with its Increased application of the product as an anti-oxidant in various pharmaceutical formulations.

With the world production of Sesame seeds estimated to be 4. 8 million tonnes, ten [10] countries accounts for over 80% of it which includes Myanmar, India, China, Tanzania, Sudan, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Uganda, and Niger.

Africa, accounts for over 45 per cent of the crop, and in the last 10 years has become as a fast-growing supplier of sesame seed in the world market.

Of the Sesame seeds global production, over two million …

It is no brainer that many foreign countries have been eyeing Africa for trade and investments purposes. Africa is known of its rich mineral land and unexploited resources that mother countries have lacked required capital and technical skills to do it themselves from oil, diamonds, gold not to mention all the agricultural products such as coffee, tea, cocoa etc.

United States of America, one among the biggest ranked economies in the world has had interests in doing business in Africa since time immemorial, at the time when Vice President Richard Nixon after winding his trip in Africa recommended to then  President Dwight Eisenhower of the greater potential of drawing attention in Investing in Africa and so has been that not with U.S.A but the likes of China, United Kingdom, and other countries such as Japan as had their good sharable investment steps in doing business in the continent.

The Obama …

The African Development Fund (ADF) which is a concessional arm of the African Development Bank Group (AFDB) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed a loan agreement worth $668.1 million (73.6 billion Japanese yen) which will help finance Africa’s low-income countries affected by the pandemic.

The loan will help support the 15th replenishment of the African Development Fund (ADF-15) which was approved in December 2019 by ADF donor countries. JICA is extending the loan – the largest to ADF-15 on behalf of the Government of Japan. Japan has been the fifth-largest contributor to the ADF in cumulative terms.

African Development Bank Group President Dr Akinwumi A. Adesina and Kuramitsu Hideaki, Japanese Ambassador to Côte d’Ivoire signed an Exchange of Notes, while the loan agreement was signed by Fujino Kojiro, the JICA Chief Representative in Côte d’Ivoire and Swazi Tshabalala, Acting African Development Bank Group Senior Vice President, in her …

Recently, Africa has enjoyed a lot of global attention. Overtures from partners all over the world have been relentless. Africa has had summits with China, Japan and Russia.

To take stock of the importance or lack thereof, it is politic to look at Africa’s continental vision and how international relations could help to realise it. The transformation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) into the African Union (AU) was not a mere exercise in shorter nomenclature; it signalled a break from some of the imponderable challenges that Africa could not solve through the OAU.

The AU said it differs from the OAU because it envisages “an integrated, prosperous, equitable and well-governed and peaceful United States of Africa, effectively managed by its own citizens and representing a creative and dynamic force in the international arena”. The First Strategic Plan of Action Horizon 2007 was meant to shape strategic relations with …

The Japanese city of Yokohama prepares to host African leaders and business delegation during the Seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD7) will be held in Yokohama from 28th to 30th August 2019.

This is a Summit-level international conference on Africa’s development which was initiated by Japan since 1993. What is striking about TICAD is that rather than being a stage for bilateral relations between Japan and African countries, it uses a multilateral framework involving the participation of international organizations.

It is also broadly accessible to diverse stakeholders, including those from private enterprise, academia, and civil society, with the number of participants at TICAD VI held in Nairobi, Kenya exceeding 10,000. TICAD is also a place where African ownership is given serious regard.

In addition, follow-up meetings at ministerial level are held annually to enable the respective ministries to properly stay abreast of the status of ongoing projects resulting …

African nations that have been slow to develop disposal facilities while mountains of trash pile up at sites will begin receiving support from the Japanese government in the form of waste disposal management and human resources cultivation.

A nation with a high level of garbage disposal expertise, Japan is expected to declare its support for countries at the Seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD7) taking place in Yokohama from Aug. 28. Japan will also show what waste management initiatives African nations will be able to take in the short term while keeping down costs.

In some African nations, waste produced by households and other places is not separated, and trash is often piled up at disposal sites with no planning or structure. Management of the sites is not thorough, and many impoverished people residing nearby make a living as “waste-pickers” who collect scrap metal and other items from …

The indicator in question in this column is figure 17.6.

17.6 of what?

According to published government statistics, the median weighted average age of an East African citizen is 17.6 years old. Among the 157 million East Africans alive today there are equal numbers of people over 17.6 years old as there are people under 17.6 years old.

So how do 17.6 years as a median age compare to other locales around the world?

If the EAC were a country it would be the 13th youngest country in the world with Uganda, Burundi, and Tanzania bringing down the weighted average against the relatively older Kenya. To add perspective, the median age of both the #1 and #2 economies of the USA and China are more than twice as old at 37.8 years and 36.8 years respectively than an East African. Even more dramatic, ageing Japan has 46.5 years as median …