Sisi calls for boosting Japanese-African cooperation, invites private sector for investments

CAIRO, 28 August 2019: President Abdel Fatah al Sisi expressed his appreciation of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the Japanese people for their efforts to set the stage for the seventh edition of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), currently held in Japan's Yokohama city.

During his speech at of the TICAD, Sisi said he has the pleasure to speak at this event that brings together Africa with one of its strategic partners.

Since its launch for the first time in 1993, TICAD focused on pushing forward development efforts in the African continent, Sisi said, adding our partnership within the framework of TICAD led to major achievements.


President Abdel Fatah al Sisi at the seventh edition of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD)- Norhan Magdi/ Egypt Today



He also called for intensifying scientific and development cooperation with Japan to benefit from the diversified resources of the African continent via backing clean and renewable energy projects.

Sisi invited the private sector, international institutions and multinational companies to invest in Africa.

He also urged regional, African and international financing institutions to play a role in funding development projects in Africa and providing financial guarantees for the capacity-building of the continent with the view to beefing up trade exchange and investments.

He also stressed the dire need of backing the African Union's Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Development policy, along with building the capacity of state institutions to undertake their duties in protecting their countries and shoring up peace and stability.

On Wednesday morning, Sisi met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sideline of (TICAD7).

Presidential spokesman Bassam Rady said that at the beginning of the meeting Abe welcomed Sisi’s current visit to Japan, thanking the president for accepting his invitation to co-chair with him (TICAD-VII) which is the newest edition of the TICAD process that 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 Japanese nation.

TICAD7 is held in Yokohama, Japan from August 28 to 30. It is the third time for Yokohama to host this biggest international event happening in Japan.

The forum will be attended by 1,500 Japanese businessmen, and 50 Egyptian businessmen. More than 4,500 (based on attendance of TICADV) heads of state and government, as well as representatives of international and regional organizations, civil societies, NGOs and the private sector will participate in the summit.

The agenda of the three-day forum includes several plenary sessions in the morning and the afternoon, in addition to around 170 various sideline sessions.

TICAD plays a role to promote connectivity and enhance the capacity of African’s private sector via: technical support, experience sharing on SMEs, promotion of agro-industry expansion, learning from Japan’s Kaize experience to leap-frog technological development for Africa.