Japan’s Shinzo Abe Hails Africa as “Growth Center”

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe views Africa as a “growth centre over the next couple of decades” and advised immediate investment at a conference on African development in Japan, co-hosted with the African Union, the World Bank and the United Nations, reports BBC News. The prime minister stressed the need for industrialization in Africa, moving beyond the export of natural resources. Japan pledged $32 billion in African aid for job development, training, and funding private and public infrastructure reports BBC News; the five-year aid package also includes $1 billion for combatting Islamist extremism. Leaders from Ethiopia, Mali, Zimbabwe and Sierra Leone attended the conference – and the news report suggests that Japan’s interest in Africa could offer an alternative to China’s growing influence in the continent. China does not release foreign aid data, but AidData researchers estimate the Chinese total for Africa is $75 billion over the past decade. – YaleGlobal