Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed expressed his intention to attend the upcoming Tokyo International Conference on Africa’s Development (TICAD) which will be held in Yokohama.
ADDIS ABABA (NHK World)– Japan and Ethiopia have agreed to join hands to ensure the success of a Tokyo-led international conference on African development.
Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono met Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali in Addis Ababa on Sunday (May 5). Ethiopia is the last leg of Kono’s trip to Africa. He has also visited Angola and South Sudan.
Foreign Minister Taro Kono referred to the Tokyo International Conference on Africa’s Development, or TICAD, which will be held in Yokohama, near the Japanese capital, in August. He said the achievement of peace and stability is one of the biggest challenges facing Africa.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed expressed his intention to attend the meeting.
Mr. Kono praised the Ethiopian prime minister’s role in normalizing ties with neighboring Eritrea last year. The two countries had been in conflict for 20 years. He also stressed Japan’s willingness to help the two nations maintain peace.
During his visit to Ethiopia, Mr. Kono also met the deputy chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission, Thomas Kwesi Quartey, at the AU headquarters in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. The AU is one of the co-organizers of TICAD.
Mr. Kono and Mr. Quartey agreed to expedite preparations for the August conference
About TICAD
The Tokyo International Conference of African Development (TICAD) was launched in 1993 by the Government of Japan, to promote Africa’s development, peace and security, through the strengthening of relations in multilateral cooperation and partnership, particularly with the country.
Coming at a time when aid fatigue had become apparent, the launch of TICAD was catalytic for refocusing international attention on Africa’s development needs. In the course of the past 20 years, TICAD has evolved into a major global and open and multilateral forum for mobilizing and sustaining international support for Africa’s development under the principles of African “ownership” and international “partnership.”
TICAD contributes to the facilitation and promotion of high-level policy dialogue between African leaders and Africa’s development partners on issues pertaining to economic growth, trade and investment, sustainable development, human security, peace and stability and government. Being a multilateral partnership, TICAD process also actively promotes South-South and triangular cooperation, in addition to traditional cooperation.
I always appreciate the motivation that our Prime minister , Dr Abey ,is taking. I my view itis very beneficial for a country like Ethiopia to have such types of partnership, as we have ample knowledge ,technology, experiences, lessons, skills and attitudes we can share from the great JAPAN.As an environmentalist and citizen of Ethiopia, I have a responsibility to contribute to wards the success of issues related to sustainable development, as indicated as one of the issues to be discussed in TICAD dialogues.