Japan’s High-Level Africa Diplomacy

Japan is stepping up its diplomatic engagement with Africa. Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yoko visited Madagascar, Côte d'Ivoire, and Nigeria, as part of a 6-country tour from April 26 to May 6, 2024. Her trip was Japan’s fourth high-level trip to Africa in the span of a year, including a visit by Prime Minister Kishida Fumio in May 2023. These recent visits build on Japan’s long history of diplomatic engagement with the region and reflect an interest in implementing a strategy of “realism diplomacy” centered increasingly on the strategic use of official development assistance (ODA) to promote Japan’s interests.
Building Partnerships through TICAD
Japan’s diplomacy toward Africa has been anchored mainly by the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), a multilateral initiative established in 1993 to promote Japan’s development leadership. The first several meetings helped develop Japan’s approach to the region, but TICAD VI in 2016—the first TICAD hosted in Africa—laid the groundwork for a new strategy based on engagement with African countries as “partners,” rather than simply as “aid destinations.”
Japan further developed this framework through the Yokohama Declaration 2019 and Yokohama Action Plan 2019 adopted at TICAD 7. The documents created a clear direction for achieving partnership by framing development initiatives in support of corresponding African Union initiatives. The two documents also prioritized approaches to economic growth, societal resilience, and peace and security designed to stimulate growth and resilience on an individual level, creating opportunities for private sector and subnational leadership in Africa.
In TICAD 8 in Tunisia in 2022, Japan and Africa sought to bolster Africa’s economic, societal, and security resilience and sustainability. The Tunis Declaration maintained TICAD 7’s individual-focused approach and adapted it to opportunities for greater engagement, including collaboration between Japan and African companies and civil society cooperation toward education, science, and technology. Kishida noted that “Japan learns and grows too” through such collaboration, recognizing that Japan’s ODA contributions in Africa could create expertise and growth that are transferable back to Japan.
Realizing “Equal Partnership”
Kishida made relationship-building a key component of his vision for Japan’s Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) strategy when he unveiled the New Plan for a Free and Open Indo-Pacific in March 2023, which advocated for “rulemaking through dialogue” that respects the historical and cultural diversity of each country, and “equal partnership” among nations.
Japan formalized this “equal partnership” in the revision of its Development Cooperation Charter in June 2023. The charter recognized that a transition from request-based to offer-based ODA required the “co-creation” of solutions to maximize the benefit of more selective use of ODA. In other words, Japan recognized that it must work alongside development recipients to create solutions tailored to their unique development needs.
Japan’s 2024 Diplomatic Bluebook reveals an effort to adopt a diplomatic framework that appreciates the diverse values, interests, and vulnerabilities of its Global South partners to “seek cooperation that is truly needed by each country.” Japan’s diplomatic engagement in Africa has largely mirrored this shift; TICAD remains the backbone of Japanese diplomacy in Africa, but Japan’s four high-level trips since May 2023 demonstrate a drive to bolster bilateral diplomacy outside of the TICAD process.
Putting Approach into Practice in Madagascar
This bilateral engagement has been particularly impactful in Madagascar, a key country to Japan’s FOIP vision given its position at an important maritime chokepoint in the Western Indian Ocean.
Madagascar has been home to Japan’s largest single investment project in Africa, Ambatovy Mine, since the mine opened in 2012. The mine, in conjunction with Toamasina Port—another large Japanese investment in the country—forms a significant portion of Japan’s supply chain of the critical mineral nickel.
Japan has stepped up bilateral diplomacy with Madagascar and visited the country on two of the four high-level trips since May 2023. These trips enabled Japan to engage with Madagascar as “fellow maritime states” and important partners “from the perspective of economic security.”
The two countries agreed to advance cooperation in critical mineral security, particularly in relation to the Ambatovy Mine, and to pursue development of a wider urban area surrounding Toamasina, citing the need to strengthen maritime connectivity. The latter agreement used the “Co-Creation for Common Agenda Initiative” set up under the revised Development Cooperation Charter, demonstrating how bilateral dialogue enables strategic ODA implementation.
Furthermore, the two visits marked significant steps toward realizing equal partnership because meeting in Madagascar—rather than in Japan or on the sidelines of TICAD—demonstrated that Japan views Madagascar as a worthwhile target of proactive diplomatic engagement.
Looking Toward TICAD 9
This increased bilateral engagement outside of the TICAD process provided an opportunity to build consensus with African partners, such as Nigeria and Côte d'Ivoire. Such engagement enables Japan and its African partners to approach the upcoming TICAD ministerial meeting on August 24 and 25 in Tokyo, and TICAD 9 itself, set for August 2025 in Yokohama, with a strengthened understanding of their respective stances on key issues.
Multilateral diplomacy through the TICAD process will remain the foundation for Japan’s leadership in African development. However, through increased high-level bilateral engagement, Japan has unlocked an indispensable tool for demonstrating commitment to equal partnership, prioritizing shared issues with key African partners, and maximizing the impact of Japan’s strategic ODA implementation to further Japan’s FOIP vision.
Noah Van Horne is an intern with the Japan Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.