Nairobi, Kenya
The Sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD VI) provided opportunities to support economic diversification and boost developments in the economic fields of agriculture, mining, the blue economy and tourism, among other benefits, said a Namibian deputy minister.
Peya Mushelenga, the Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, was responding to New Era on the sidelines of the two-day TICAD VI that took place in Nairobi, starting from Saturday to Sunday.
The blue economy that Mushelenga made reference to is an economic concept whereby emphasis is put on access to necessities such as health and education implemented through a system of production and consumption, based on what is already in existence.
“When Africa develops infrastructure this will ensure increased economic activities and efficiency in trade, both in terms of export and import transportation. As a result Africa will become competitive in a broader world global system,” stated the deputy minister of international relations.
On TICAD’s activities in Africa and its aims and objectives, Mushelenga said TICAD’s contribution to Africa has been, among others, support for agricultural programmes which resulted in increased rice production under the Coalition for African Rice Development.
“Under TICAD VI, Namibia benefitted in the fields of agriculture, especially horticulture, water resources, sanitation and waste management, infrastructure development and climate change. But, in general, overall Namibia’s assistance from Japan include technical assistance for implementation of the Namibia logistics hub project for the SADC masterplan for development of the international logistics hub,” Mushelenga told New Era on Saturday.
Other benefits to Namibia have been through the Japanese International Cooperation Agency that supported the Namibia one-stop border post project located between Namibia and Botswana that is aimed at improving cross-border cooperation, including intelligence sharing, he said.
In a TICAD related development Namibia, led by Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, was among twenty African countries that on Sunday signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with the government of Japan and 22 Japanese firms and organisations.
Other countries that signed the MoUs on Sunday were Angola, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, DRC, Ethiopia, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, South Africa and Zambia.