Page 8 - AfrElec Week 35
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AfrElec INVESTMENT AfrElec
Japan commits to raising private lending to Africa
AFRICA
TOKYO has agreed to raise Japanese private lending to Africa to $1.75bn between 2020 and 2022, with the African Development Bank (AfDB) committing itself to a similar amount.
e two partners said at the 7th Tokyo Inter- national Conference on African Development (TICAD 7) on August 30 that they planned to raise a joint $3.5bn under the Enhanced Private Sector Assistance for Africa initiative (EPSA4).
The investment is to be concentrated on energy and transport and represents the fourth phase of Japan’s EPSA, which aims to spur pri- vate sector-led sustainable and inclusive growth in Africa.
“Japan and the Bank have decided to upgrade EPSA in both quality and quantity to meet nancial needs for infrastructure development as well as for the private sector development in Africa,” Japan’s State Minister of Finance, Keis- uke Suzuki, said at the EPSA4 launch ceremony held in Yokohama.
Electricity, transportation and health will be key priorities under EPSA4.
Japan is keen that investment projects will conform to the G20 Principles for Quality Infra- structure Investment and the G20 Shared Under- standing on the Importance of UHC Financing in Developing Countries.
e rules will ensure that nancing will be transparent, sustainable and long-term.
“The African Development Bank and the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) are long-term partners for promoting
the development of Africa. EPSA helps to deliver much needed [ nance] to support the private sector,” Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, president of the AfDB, said during his address.
During EPSA1 (2005-2011), Japan set the target of providing $1bn in loans, with $2b in the second phase (2012-2016).
During the ongoing EPSA3 (2017-2019), Japan and the AfDB are co-operating closely to provide $3bn of support.
e bank and JICA have so far co- nanced 25 projects to improve key transportation and electricity transmission networks.
These include the construction of three road junctions in Abidjan and Côte d’Ivoire, and developing Angola’s power sector reform programme.
“Under EPSA 4, JICA and the African Devel- opment Bank will provide co-financing of $3.5bn. is is a signi cant increase over EPSA- 3. [An] increase is what we need to meet the needs of Africa,” said Adesina.
With 600mn people lacking access to power in Africa, Japan is keen to support sustainable projects in Africa in order to enhance its so power across the continent.
While looking to support Japanese company’s activities in Africa, such as Mitsubishi’s recent investment in BBOXX, Tokyo is also aiming to o er an alternative to Chinese investment, which has proved controversial because of poor levels of transparency and accusations of creating debt traps for several African countries.
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 35 04•September•2019
