A Japan-supported international conference on African development will be held in late August although it may be switched to a virtual format depending on the coronavirus situation, a senior official said Tuesday.
The two-day meeting from Aug. 27 will be hosted by Tunisia, with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expected to be one of the participants, according to Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno. It will be the eighth round of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development, or TICAD.
“As the novel coronavirus has had a tremendous impact on Africa’s economy and society, international cooperation is now important,” Matsuno said during a news conference, adding that Japan will continue to play an active role in supporting the continent’s further development in a post-pandemic era.
As part of preparations for the conference, ministerial talks involving Japan and African countries will be held virtually on March 26 to 27, according to the Foreign Ministry.
TICAD, cosponsored by Japan, the United Nations and a few other international organizations, was launched in 1993. It was last held in August 2019 in Yokohama.
Tunisia will be the second African nation to host TICAD after Kenya in 2016.
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