Japan PM Fumio Kishida on Sunday promised it will use its place on the United Nations Security Council next year to push for a permanent African seat on the world body.
Kishida told the final session of an investment conference in Tunisia that Japan will also cooperate closely with African countries to promote “more resilient” economies. This comes a day after Japan announced $30 billion in public and private finance for the continent.
Japan wants “to create an environment where African people can live in peace and security so they can develop,” Kishida said, speaking via live video from Tokyo. Kishida did not travel to Tunisia after he tested positive for covid days ago.
Senegalese President Macky Sall, chair of the 55-member African Union, backed Kishida’s call for the continent to have a seat on the UN Security Council. Conflicts “that destabilise us and prevent us from developing must be taken into account by the Security Council” whose mission it is to promote international peace and security, Sall said while calling for a greater role for African peacekeepers in resolving conflicts. “Without security there can be no development,” Sall added.
The eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) was held in Tunisia. one of many import-dependent countries hurt by global supply disruptions and price rise unleashed by the coronavirus pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Some 20 African heads of state and government took part in the summit in the North African nation. The summit brought together around 5,000 people from business and other sectors and shut down major roads across Tunis, causing weekend traffic chaos.
The conference took place as Japan’s rival China furthers its influence on the continent with its “Belt and Road” infrastructure initiative, and as experts express concern about the long-term sustainability of some African nations’ borrowing from Beijing.
