Africa-Press – Lesotho. The 9th edition of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development Development (TICAD9) began its second day of works on Thursday in the city of Yokohama, Japan, with an agenda marked by a speech by the President of the African Union (AU), João Lourenço, in a Public-Private Business Dialogue.
According to the official event program, the session also includes a speech by Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, with whom João Lourenço co-chairs the conference proceedings, which opened on Wednesday.
During the opening session on Wednesday, Shigeru Ishiba said that it was with a belief in Africa’s future that Japan initiated the TICAD process in 1993, shortly after the end of the cold war, celebrated with the fall of the Berlin Wall four years earlier.
He pointed out that with an average age of 19, Africa is a continent full of youthful energy, and the key to becoming the next growth center would be to invest in the capacity building and secure employment for young people and women.
Based on this insight, the Japanese Prime Minister announced that Japan will train 300,000 people in Africa over the next three years, as well as provide support for the training of exceptional talent in artificial intelligence (AI) for up to 30,000 professionals.
Shigeru Ishiba revealed that his country will also attract investment in health sectors in Africa. The initiative will begin with the creation this year of the Universal Health Coverage Knowledge Center and the training of 35,000 professionals who will contribute to the implementation of universal coverage in African countries.
Still in the health field, the official informed that Japan will continue to support the provision of vaccines including a maximum contribution of USD 550 million to the Gavi Alliance for Vaccines over the next five years.
Regarding the education sector, Japan is committed to improving the learning of 10 million children and training 150,000 high-level talents.
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