Japan Promises to Follow Through with Africa Aid

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaks at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa on Jan. 14.(CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images)

Analysis

Japan is highlighting its renewed investment in Africa even as China promises not to take a colonialist path in the region. Tokyo will "steadily" implement the $32 billion worth of aid and investment it has allotted to Africa over the next five years, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said during a meeting with African leaders in Cameroon on May 4. The $32 billion pledge, promised last year, marks an increase from Japan's $9 billion in aid to Africa between 2008 and 2012 -- a period that also saw a net decrease in Japan's direct investment in Africa.

Japan is attempting to revive its international standing and boost its economy through deeper engagement with developing countries around the world, especially those on whom it depends for resources. Despite the meeting in Cameroon, Japan's recent efforts have focused on East Africa, where the combination of natural gas discoveries, developing consumer markets, inroads into central Africa and access to the Indian Ocean has caught Tokyo's eye.

Japanese media may hope that the boost in aid to Africa does not get overshadowed by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's visit to Ethiopia, Nigeria, Angola and Kenya, where China -- fast becoming one of the biggest investors in Africa -- has offered $10 billion in additional loans and $3 billion in additional aid, along with a wide range of business deals. China's large cash surpluses give it an advantage, but Japan differentiates itself with advanced human capital. In fact, the tendency to see China's and Japan's actions in Africa as a proxy struggle for influence is misleading; it elides the fact that Malaysia and India are also comparable Asian investors in Africa. Moreover, China will gradually face more financial constraints, and the rapidly growing presence of its companies and workers has stirred political tensions, causing Li to state that China does not seek to become a neo-colonialist power.

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