Japan is repositioning its engagement with Africa, shifting from aid-driven support to direct investment, as China and Russia expand their influence across the continent.
Japan pledged to help develop 300,000 skilled workers in partnership with Japanese firms at the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 9), which concluded on Friday. The government also urged its companies to step up investment and establish stronger footholds in African markets.
During the three-day summit, Tokyo introduced a framework enabling the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to provide loans for private funds considering investments in ventures that may be risky but hold significant potential.
According to the Foreign Ministry, the number of Japanese corporate bases in Africa almost doubled from 520 in 2010 to 948 in 2023.
Meanwhile, Chinese firms are estimated to operate more than 10,000 bases across the continent. Russia, on the other hand, has sought to build influence through military cooperation as part of its wider geopolitical strategy.“From the outset of TICAD in 1993, Japan has aimed to use development aid as a platform to support greater corporate presence in Africa,” said Sadaharu Kataoka, a Japan–Africa relations expert at Waseda University.
However, he acknowledged that Japanese firms remain far behind their Chinese counterparts, often deterred by political instability and unpredictable operating environments.
Kataoka stressed that Africa presents both opportunities and challenges, noting that the continent’s population is projected by the United Nations to reach 2.5 billion by 2050. “Benefits and risks in the continent are two sides of the same coin,” he said. Japan has taken steps to reduce such risks, including revising Self-Defence Forces law in 2015 and 2022 to better protect nationals abroad. Analysts say whether these new measures at TICAD 9 will encourage greater corporate entry remains to be seen.