There is growing interest in Japan by the government, parliamentarians, mega companies and startups to invest more in Africa. As a delegation from the African Development Bank Group led by President Dr Akinwumi Adesina visited Japan to showcase the enormous investment opportunities on the continent, the Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida, was leading his country’s charge with a tour of four countries, namely Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, and Mozambique.
In Japan, Dr Adesina accompanied by three Vice Presidents, Dr Kevin Kariuki, Dr Beth Dunford and Solomon Quaynor, and Executive Director Takaaki Nomoto, held a series of meetings with senior government officials including the Minister for Finance Shunichi Suzuki, Vice Minister for Finance Masato Kanda and the Director General in the Ministry of Finance Atshushi Mimura.
They met with the top leadership of global mega brands including Mitsui & Co Ltd., Sumitomo Corporation, Mitsubishi Corporation and Toyota Tsusho, as well as Japan’s leading business community, the Keizai Doyukai, that brings together more than 1000 business executives.
The result of this high-level engagement could see Japan’s net Foreign Direct Investment to Africa rebounding to pre-Covid19 levels when it amounted to $10 billion compared to $6 billion in 2021.
