President Kagame arrives in Nairobi to attend the 6th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD)
President Paul Kagame arrived Friday in Kenya’s capital Nairobi for the 6th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD VI). The summit is scheduled to start Saturday and end Sunday.
About 35 heads of state are expected to attend the summit which will be held outside Japan for the first time since its inception in 1993.
Japan which wants a piece of Africa’s resources and its burgeoning markets is expected to unveil huge aid and investment projects. Last year Japan recorded approximately $24 billion in total trade with Africa.
Various side events such as seminars, symposiums, exhibitions and business forum have been scheduled to run immediately before and during the TICAD VI Summit.
The two-day summit is a bigger opportunity for the Rwandan delegation to showcase opportunities for foreign investment in targeted sectors especially; Coffee, tea, mining, energy and telecommunications.
Japan’s main assistance to landlocked Rwanda is primarily focused on promoting value added agriculture, human resource development, economic infrastructure and water and sanitation.
According to the schedule, a total of 54 seminars will be held during the summit. Some seminars will discuss; Technology Enabling Innovation and Industrialization in Africa, increased Health Investment for Africa, tapping into the power of youth to build a solid and sustainable foundation of African development, Eliminating Maternal Deaths.
Other seminars on schedule will brainstorm on; Rapid Urbanisation and climate change, Securing Farmers’ Rights to Achieve Food Security, African Financial Inclusion and the Burundi crisis among others.
The conference is co-organised by Japan, the United Nations, the World Bank and the African Union.
