Rwandan President Paul Kagame arrived Tuesday in Japan, accompanied by a delegation, to attend the seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in Yokohama, Japan, a diplomatic source revealed Tuesday in Kigali.
The seventh meeting of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development is set to open in Yokohama on Wednesday amid an intensifying race between China and other countries to expand their presence in Africa’s rapidly growing economies.
It said Tokyo’s concern highlights the intensifying race on the continent among many countries, including Japan, China and Russia, to expand their presence there.
The Rwandan delegation is expected to lobby for more support from Japan in science and technology, innovation, human resource development, education, health among other sectors, it said
President Buhari will deliver his nation’s statement during a plenary session assessing bilateral relations with Japan and the key points from the last conference held in Nairobi three years ago.
Kagame will also hold a bilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, attend other events on the sidelines and meet the chief executives of Japanese companies with significant investments in Rwanda.
Additionally, Kagame will attend a State Banquet and honour an invitation to a Tea Reception by Emperor Naruhito at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.
Apart from President Kagame, 11 other African leaders have confirmed their participation for the seventh edition of the Tokyo International Conference for African Development (TICAD) summit, taking place in Japan.
Among the African leaders whose attendance is confirmed are: Abdul Fatten Al-Sisi of Egypt and current African Union president, Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo of Somalia, Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe, Faure Gnassingbe of Togo, Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of Ghana, Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria, Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, Ibrahim Boubakar Keita of Mali, Edgar Lungu of Zambia and Macky Sall of Senegal.
The United Nations predicts that the total population of Africa will hit 2.5 billion in 2050, meaning one in every four people in the world will be African.
Reports said that Russia is also set to organize a similar summit meeting with top African leaders in October.
CU/abj/APA