New Chapter in Japanese-African Relations: Commitments at the TICAD VI

Abstract

The Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) has been organized the sixth time since its launch in 1993 – first time, however, not on Japanese soil, but in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, at the end of August 2016. The pragmatic foreign policy offensive led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe certainly intends not to lag behind that of China, as well as to stay focused in thematically dominating African development as such in the international system. The TICAD VI also shows that Japan wants to go along with its confident manner of inclusive development and ownership in African societies, therefore, to contribute to the rise of the badly needed ‚African agency’. The article gives an overview of the TICAD process and shows the major points of agreement at the Nairobi forum.