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TICAD: Japan’s Quiet Challenge to China’s Development Role in Africa

by Cobus van Staden
Tunisian Prime Minister Najla Bouden during a meeting of the preparatory committee for the 8th edition of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development which will take place on August 27 in the capital Tunis. FETHI BELAID / AFP

27 and 28 August will see the eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) taking place in Tunisia. Japan’s TICAD predates China’s Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) and set the template for the continent’s interaction with Asian economic superpowers.

However, TICAD is also fundamentally different from FOCAC in that it embraces multilateralism. Co-hosted by the Japanese government, the United Nations, the UN Development Program, the World Bank, and the African Union Commission, it is dedicated to forging cooperation between Africa and multiple development partners.

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