| Overview : With the extensive network of Country Offices, expertise in key development areas such as Poverty/Growth, Good Governance, Environment and Climate Change, Crisis Prevention and Recovery, and Gender, as well as convening and coordination role for UN development assistance, UNDP has been partnering with Japan to support and enhance the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), initiated in 1993, as one of the key forum for the advancement of dialogue and collaboration on African development. UNDP, as one of the co-organizers of TICAD along with Japan, UN-Office of Special Adviser on Africa (OSAA), the World Bank and African Union Commission (AUC), has hosted the Special Unit for TICAD, which has been progressively integrated into the UNDP Regional Bureau of Africa (RBA) with a view to enhancing integrated UNDP support for the TICAD process. Through the Special Unit for TICAD, UNDP has consistently supported the successful expansion and evolution of the TICAD process and provided critical support in substantive, programmatic, technical and operational aspects. Since the first TICAD welcomed 1,000 participants in Tokyo in 1993, TICAD has steadily grown into a major global platform for African development. Most recent TICAD VI summit brought together 11,000 high level participants, the largest ever recorded and the first TICAD summit held in Africa (Nairobi, Kenya). Two follow-up Ministerial meetings were then held in Maputo, Mozambique in August 2017 and in Tokyo, Japan in October 2018. UNDP’s contributions to the success of these meetings as well as TICAD VI, both substantively and operationally, were highly appreciated by wide-ranging stakeholders. In August 2019, TICAD7 welcomed around 10,000 representatives from 53 African Union Member States, including 42 Heads of States, regional and international organizations, the private sectors of both Africa and Japan, parliamentarians, civil society organizations and development partners from around the world. The discussions centered on the theme of “Advancing Africa’s Development through People, Technology and Innovation”, and at the end of the conference, the Yokohama Declaration The declaration confirmed the commitments under the three pillars: 1) Accelerating economic transformation and improving business environment through innovation and private sector engagement; 2) deepening sustainable and resilient societies; and 3) strengthening peace and stability. TICAD7 has been transformed and was reborn with shifting its main focus from aid to facilitating investment, with newly established plenary session for public private business dialogue with 3,000 participants. Government of Japan committed to support for the private sector investment to reach over USD 20billion, focusing on promotion of Entrepreneurship, Enterprise, Innovation, Investment with plans to foster 3,000 industrial human resources and foster 5,000 young people who will advance STI into the future. The Administrator emphasized the importance of the roles of the private sector in realizing the SDGs in Africa through technologies and innovations. Against this backdrop, UNDP and Japan have developed an important partnership over 20 years, involving the Japanese Government, civil society, the private sector, the academic community and other stakeholders, resulting in over 600 million USD mobilized since TICAD IV (2008) from Japan for assistance to Africa through UNDP. Partnership with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has also been enhanced both at country and HQ levels, including the formulation of JICA funded projects and joint advocacy activities. Through TICAD7, UNDP successfully opened a new chapter of partnership with Japanese business sector, through launching of the tripartite partnership with JICA/JETRO, a bilateral partnership with JETRO as well as the Japan Association of Corporate Executives to accelerate achievement of the SDGs with mobilizing business-based solutions for economic and social challenges. Prior to TICAD7 summit, Japan Business Council for Africa, an inter-ministerial and public-private dialogue platform, was established to continuously exchange information and discuss on opportunities and challenges in promoting engagement of Japanese private sector in Africa, with its secretariat office comprised of MOFA, METI, JICA, and JETRO. Under the Japan Business Council for Africa, 4 Working Groups were established. UNDP was included as a core organizing member of one of the WGs, SMEs/start-up WG and provided inputs. UNDP is seen as a trusted partner who could provide expertise and network in Africa utilizing the newly launched tripartite platform with JICA/JETRO At the business plenary during TICAD7, Minister SEKO of METI introduced the tripartite partnership of JICA/JETRO/UNDP as one of the four focused approach, “innovation initiative”, to promote rise of digitalization and application of technology in Africa, expecting UNDP’s contribution. Further, JICA/JETRO/UNDP organized pre-TICAD7 business seminars across Japan which was highly valued by MOFA, METI and business stakeholders. To expand layers of Japanese corporations especially SMEs which would start business in Africa, Japanese stakeholders such as Japan Business Council for Africa have expressed strong expectation for continuation of similar seminars across Japan. As such, the expectation of stakeholders to UNDP for its roles in strategic, substantive, programmatic, technical as well as logistical support remain high against the backdrop of its track records and its new strategic direction in promoting business/investment in Africa. For UNDP, it is an opportune time to reestablish and pitch its renewed value under the new Corporate Strategy by working with traditional and new partners in order to; - Secure continuous resource mobilization from the Government of Japan through enhancing UNDP-Japan partnership through TICAD process, as TICAD transforms and its focus of MoFA and METI are shifting to trade and investment in Africa
- Assist expansion and acceleration of UNDP’s existing platforms (such as Accelerator Labs, YAS!, Youth Connekt) through connecting them with resources in Japan including public and private sectors
- Promote #Next Gen UNDP as a trusted partner for innovation, private financing, public-private partnership, not only towards Japanese stakeholders but also towards global audience through the international platform, TICAD
- Add value to the work of UNDP as an integrator of development through contribution to attainment of the SDGs through supporting enterprise and entrepreneurship which provide solutions to economic and social challenges
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