Japan and the African Development Bank on Friday announced a joint target of $3.5 billion. Electricity, transport, and health identified as key priorities. The support will be under the Enhanced Private Sector Assistance for Africa initiative (EPSA4), during TICAD 7 (The 7th Tokyo International Conference on African Development ).
"Science, technology and innovation as well as human resource development are critical in Africa, a continent, which has the biggest potential on earth", Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said at the Science and Technology in Society (STS) forum held in Yokohama, as part of TICAD 7.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) wants to encourage Japan's partnership with African countries as a way to improve nutrition. According to the FAO State of Food and Security report in 2019, the number of hungry people in the world is 821 million. Africa alone accounts for 31% of the global number of hungry people - 251 million people.
African countries could benefit from a project that aims to share with other countries Brazil's expertise in cotton cultivation. Cotton growing occupies a strategic position in development policy and poverty reduction programs, and Brazil is the world's fourth-largest cotton producer and the second-largest global exporter.
French President Emmanuel Macron and G7 leaders approved a package totaling $ 251 million in support of the African Development Bank. Funds will be directed to the AFAWA (Bank Affirmative Financial Action for Women in Africa) Initiative, which aims to support women entrepreneurs in Africa.
Egypt was the African country that most imported beans grown in Brazil in the first seven months of this year. Data from the Ministry of Economy indicate that the country bought $ 2.8 million from January to July. The number is more than six times that of last year, when the Egyptians imported only $ 442,500 in Brazilian beans.
With countries in Africa experiencing increased cases and deaths due to malaria and other vector-borne diseases, 47 health ministers endorsed a plan, in the form of the Framework on the Implementation of the Global Vector Control Response.
