Africa in the driver's seat: The TICAD process and the road to the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit

Historically, Japan has played a critical role in keeping African development high on the international agenda. For example, Japan was the first G8 member to invite participation by African leaders the last time it hosted the G8 Summit in 2000. The Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), an event established in 1993 and held once every five years, has also informed past G8 and UN Summits, resulting in key outcomes such as the establishment of the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis.

For the first time, in 2008 Japan will host both the G8 Summit and TICAD, and it is widely expected that many of the issues raised in TICAD will be incorporated into discussions at the G8. The ODI is pleased to bring together key representatives from Japan, Africa and the UK to discuss Japan’s participatory approach to African development.

H.E. Mr Nobutake Odano, Japanese Ambassador for TICAD IV will be arriving directly from the TICAD IV Ministerial Preparatory Meeting in Gabon and will offer his views on the process so far. H.E. Mrs Mwanaidi Sinare Maajar, High Commissioner to the United Kingdom for the United Republic of Tanzania, which is the current chair of the African Union, will add insight from the African perspective. Prof. Myles Wickstead, Former Head of Secretariat for the Commission for Africa, will also draw on his wealth of experience in Africa to inform the discussion.

Some questions for consideration include: How has Japan helped put Africa in the driver’s seat with regards to African development? How effective has the TICAD process been in bringing African voices into the G8 Summit dialogue? How does the TICAD process compare to other partnership models, especially those promoted by China and India?