Japan’s relationship with Africa has been reinforced with the completion of Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD9) in Yokohama from August 20 to 22, 2025. The TICAD9 delegations attended roughly intact and led to a new generation of Japan-Africa policy, positioning Japan as a country utilizing a relationship model emphasizing co-creation, innovation, private business engagement and sustainable development initiatives.
With almost 50 African country delegations, Japanese regulators, business leaders and civil society representatives in attendance, TICAD9 presented a timely opportunity to grow economic, social and political engagement while highlighting how Africa is facing momentous uncertainty.
The theme of TICAD9, “Co-create Innovative Solutions with Africa,” marked a very conscious shift away from historical donor recipient relationships, based on an ever-present recognition of African leadership and joint ownership to benefit both African and Japanese individuals. The TICAD9 include over 200 thematic networking events and over 300 exhibition booths for discussion regarding innovative approaches to technology, trade, infrastructure and human capital.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, compared the nature of Africa’s increasingly important geostrategic position in earlier TICAD meetings and offered further collaboration to meet development challenges facing Africans today. He spoke to the aspects of a commitment to inclusive growth, sustainable industrialization, and regional integration as important because Japan is looking to positively engage with African-led activities with Japan offering financial, technical and capacity support.
Major Outcomes and Commitments
Economic Cooperation and Infrastructure Development
Japan’s economic has an ambitious agenda to support in enhancing Africa’s development while promoting mutually beneficial trade and investment. Prime Minister Ishiba proposed to create the “Indian Ocean Africa Economic Zone” with the idea of strengthening economic integration and connectivity amongst African countries and their regional partners . As part of infrastructure connections and debt relief, Japan committed to financing key projects through $5.5 billion in loans, through the African Development Bank, for joint corridors of transportation routes, industrial parks, and energy systems.
The proposal also included the initiative to lower the debt premiums that African countries face . Japan has also committed to providing technical assistance so that African countries can develop their domestic capacity to engage with international capital markets and credit rating agencies that provide equal risk representations that will enable countries to borrow at the lowest cost of capital. The goal would be to help African governments borrow sustainably and promote national economic sustainability and resilience.
The other area of commitment for Japan’s TICAD9 commitments is with respect to support to creating regional integration and value-added exports. Concurrently funded to African countries were activities to develop agro-industrial zones, export certification hubs, and a database for buyers and suppliers so producers could connect directly to Japanese and international markets. The goal was to create new opportunities to do downstream processing and enhance the quality of products while keeping more of the value in their domestic economies.
By creating opportunities that would develop African supply chains for direct global trade markets, Japan hopes to support the creation of sustainable business opportunities for African countries while reducing exportation of raw commodities abroad.
In addition, Japan indicated ongoing support for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), with technical assistance and money committed to supporting the implementation of trade facilitation measures. This is in line with Japan’s development agenda and Africa’s regional development priorities that can support African economies to enhance their competitiveness and integrate better into the world.
Human Capital Development and Technology Transfer
Recognizing the role of people and technology in economic transformation, Japan committed to developing, across a three-year period, 30,000 African professionals and students in areas related to artificial intelligence, digital skills, and advanced technology. These are initiative-based targeted interventions that focus on advancing digital transformation, creating good jobs, and advancing innovation because they represent a baseline level of technology that can be harnessed in African countries to develop localized political solutions.
Japan clarified that it also has a broader plan to bolster future partnerships with Africa in education, research, and innovation by way of university partnerships, scholarships, and vocational training programs, human capital development is important, but Japan wants to also build a skilled workforce that can play a role in both local and global industrial initiatives while enhancing the technological capacity of the continent.
Human Security, Peace, and Stability
TICAD9 established Japan’s commitment to human security and peace reflected within the sustainable development agenda. It elaborated on how it would support African governments with complicated challenges of dealing with forced displacement, issues of climate resilience and protecting the security of communities. Japan stated that investments in infrastructure and development should also consider securing against conflicts and creating social stability to develop the conditions for growth.
Programmatic announcements were also made around disaster preparedness, health systems, and climate change adaptation, especially in the vulnerable context. Japan positioned these efforts as part of a broader strategy to help African states cope with shocks in pursuit of development.
Public-Private Partnerships and Financing Innovations
A big part of TICAD9 was that Japan emphasized “blended finance” – the combination of concessional funding, commercial lending, and private sector investment. Many hundreds of business cooperation agreements and memoranda of understanding were signed covering areas of infrastructure, energy, agriculture and technology. Japan committed to work with the African development bank system and multilateral institutions to mobilize co-financing for strategic projects to ensure development efforts are both scalable and sustainable.
The conference underscored a critical need to leverage private sector engagement in order to get the most value from public funds, increase accountability, and ensure projects positively impact the communities of focus.
Grassroots Engagement: JICA Hometown Initiative
Japan also sought to deepen sub-national and cultural ties through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) “hometown” program. Four Japanese cities were partnered with countries in Africa – Kisarazu with Nigeria, Nagai with Tanzania, Sanjo with Ghana and Imabari with Mozambique. The program seeks to bring together municipalities to create cooperation, cultural exchange and business ties, ultimately trying to establish long-term, communities-to-communities relationships to complement diplomatic relationships at a national level.
Conclusion
TICAD9 showed Japan’s developing role and approach to Africa: moving from donor aid models to co-creation, strategic partnerships, and sustainable capacity building. The conference demonstrated Japan’s commitment to support African development in ways that are mutually beneficial, innovative and sustainable. By combining investments in infrastructure, human capital development, trade facilitation and peace building, Japan is committing to help African countries of transformation economically, while also cementing bilateral and regional ties.
As Africa’s prominence continues to increase globally, Japan’s approach sets an example for balanced partnerships that respect African agency, prioritize common objectives and encompasses long-term thinking in development planning. Ultimately, the success of TICAD9 will depend on the effective implementation of pledged initiatives, transparency in governance, and ongoing collaborations between Japanese and African governments, businesses and civil societies.