AFRICA - “Thanks for the help, but what we really need is a world market that better supports are products,” the African nations say at the Japan-Africa Summit.

Yokohama (Agenzia Fides) – “Thanks for the help, but we want an increased openness on the market by developed nations and more investments in our countries.” This could be a summary of what African leaders invited to participate in the TICAD (Tokyo International Conference on African Development) that took place on May 28-30 in Yokohama (near Japan’s capital city) said in response to the Japanese government’s announcement that it would double its contributions to aid Africa by 2012, including 4 billion dollars in low-interest loans.
“I pledge that by 2012--five years from now--Japan will have doubled its ODA to Africa,” said Prime Minister Yasou Fukuda. Japan wishes to double their aid to 10 billion dollars and reinforce technical cooperation, as well as coordinate a worldwide reduction of Africa’s foreign debt. Tokyo has promised to help the African nations to double their own rice production by 10 years from now, in order to face the food emergencies.
However, the strict logic of aid has not been enough according to the African heads of state. “Essentially, we believe that Africa's future growth lies in trade, not aid. Without discounting the importance of aid, improved terms of trade for Africa are critical to ensure the full integration into the global economy," said Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa, during his speech.
The African nations are asking Europe, the United States, and Japan to invest in the African economy, whose tax increase in 2007 was 5.7% in order to make the African products reach the best markets at a just price.
Present at the Yokohama Summit were 52 African nations, of whom 44 were represented by their President, Prime Minister, or Vice-Prime Minister. There were also various international organizations present, such as the UN. The Conference was organized by the Japanese government, the UN, and the World Bank, and has been held every 5 years since 1993.
In addition to Japan, two other Asian powers regularly organize summit meetings with African countries: China (see Fides 11/6/2006) and India (see Fides 9/4/2008). (LM) (Agenzia Fides 29/5/2008)