The Japanese government says it is looking at several areas of cooperation to help Ghana recover from COVID-19 and prepare for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
New collaborations and partnerships are needed to solve the world's economic and security concerns, according to Miyashita Tadayuki, Deputy Director-General of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Department of African Affairs.
He said the help will be tailored to allow Ghana to drive and control its development process during a virtual conference on March 16.
The gathering is part of the build-up to this year's Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), a summit-level conference on Africa's development that Japan launched in 1993.
Agriculture, infrastructure development, and COVID vaccination support, he said, were among the main areas that will be given the attention they deserved in order to boost the country's economy.
This year's event, which is slated to take place in Tunisia on August 27 and 28, will be the eighth edition of TICAD.
The TICAD Ministerial Meeting will be placed online on March 26 and 27 prior to TICAD 8.
Mr. Tadayuki remarked that, given the COVID-19 pandemic's significant socioeconomic impact on Africa, Japan believes that now is the moment to collaborate worldwide.
"Through the TICAD8, Japan will aggressively promote African-led development, with the goal of laying out a route for African growth in the post-COVID-19 period," he added.
He explained that Japan was now assisting Ghana and other African countries in three areas: economics, society, and peace and stability.
In terms of the economy, Mr. Tadayuki mentioned that Japan launched the African Business Education initiative, which aims to develop 3,000 industrial human resources over the course of six years while also promoting the maritime and shipping industries through port infrastructure and shipping equipment.
In terms of society, he stated that Japan is pursuing universal health care and delivering high-quality education while also improving governance to ensure peace and stability.
Kato Ryuichi, Vice President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), emphasized the important accomplishments of measures done to assist Ghana and other African nations in recovering from the consequences of COVID-19.
Support for vaccination to help battle COVID-19 through the provision of cold chain and medical equipment to developing an effective and safe immunization system was one of them, he said.
He went on to describe the impact of the Next Innovation with Japan (NINJA) initiative, which helped start-ups develop novel business models and innovate in response to changes in social structure and economic activity.
Mr. Ryuichi stated that JICA's assistance for Ghana and other nations in establishing a resilient, inclusive, and prosperous continent will be informed by the discussions at TICAD 8.
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