The upcoming ninth edition of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development TICAD 9 will mark the latest step in a journey that began more than 30 years ago. Japan's efforts to ramp up its engagement with Africa in the 1990s stemmed partly from the country's own economic situation. The long post-war boom was finally running out of steam, though Japanese institutions had built up massive cash reserves. This created the perfect moment for Japan to search for new markets.
Meanwhile, Japanese businesses did not want to miss out on economic opportunities in Africa, which they realised had the potential for huge growth, at least in the long term. "They started to realise that if they didn't capture that last frontier they were going to be left behind," says Emma Ruiters, an expert in Japan-Africa relations and digital and tech transformation associate consultant at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.
Building a relationship with Africa has not been easy for Japan. The Land of the Rising Sun lies more than 8,000 kilometres from the nearest part of Africa. To this day there are few direct travel links between Japan and the continent. On top of the physical distance, differences in language and culture have complicated efforts to strengthen ties.
Nevertheless, the TICAD process has helped lay the foundations for the Japan-Africa relationship to grow. Trade and investment have significantly increased in recent decades, while Japanese businesses have begun to gain a more realistic understanding of the opportunities available in Africa.
Modest beginningsThe original TICAD, held in October 1993, was a relatively low-key gathering. The vast majority of the African delegations were headed by ministers of finance or foreign affairs. Only a handful of African presidents, including Ghana's Jerry Rawlings, Burkina Faso's Blaise Compaor and Uganda's Yoweri Museveni, jetted into Tokyo for the event.