TOKYO: Japan is planning to increase involvement in infrastructure projects in Africa as it looks to strengthen its foothold in what Tokyo considers to be one of the world’s last major growth markets.
A plan with funding for 60 major infrastructure projects, including strategic port and linking transport infrastructure investments, has been prepared ahead of the sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development, organized by the Japanese government together with the United Nations and the African Union, government sources told Japanese media.
The next TICAD will take place in Nairobi in August where Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to formally announce Japanese involvement in the projects.
Japan’s Africa investments have so far centered largely on three areas — Kenya’s port of Mombasa and hinterland, Nicala port in Mozambique and Cote d’Ivoire.
On the ports front, Mombasa has been the primary investment to date, with Japan committing $500 million for the future development of the port, close to half of which is already allocated as a loan for development of its second phase.
“The emphasis is put on infrastructure development, which promotes logistics with neighboring landlocked nations, considering the importance of Kenya as a hub for logistics in Africa. Japan will assist not only hard infrastructure development but also technical aspects such as support for smooth customs clearance and the entire maintenance and management of developed infrastructure,” said the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the agency that coordinates overseas development assistance for the government of Japan.
Together with a new container terminal, the Mombasa project includes development of hinterland roads, weighbridges and capacity building for customs clearance processes. The new access road to the terminal will have a capacity of 750,000 twenty-foot-equivalent units per year. A railway station with four rail mounted gantry cranes will also be constructed.
Mombasa is the second-largest port in Africa by cargo tonnage and container throughput and the port is preparing for an upsurge in competition from the giant Chinese-invested Bagamoyo port in Tanzania.
Japan’s second major African port project is at Nacala in northern Mozambique, the deepest port in southern Africa, where it is investing $255 million in the port’s second phase. Expected to be complete by the start of 2018, the project will expand the capacity of the port to over 250,000 TEUs and 5 million tons of cargo per year by 2020. Japan is also supporting human resource training and development at the port and is involved in the formulation of a comprehensive development plan for the Nacala transport corridor.
Nacala port is expected to experience substantial growth as the main gateway to the Nacala Corridor, home to some 45 million people, and a regional trade gateway for southern Africa. Mineral resources, including coal and natural gas, have been discovered in the region, leading to projections that cargo volumes through the port could increase tenfold by 2030.
“The project aims to increase cargo-handling productivity which is pivotal for exports and imports in northern Mozambique, thereby contributing to economic development and poverty reduction in the Nacala Corridor which stretches from northern Mozambique to Malawi and Zambia,” JICA said.
