- Region: Africa
- Energy and Natural Resources
- Environment
- Others
May 15, 2009
- The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC; President & CEO: Hiroshi Watanabe)*1 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the African Development Bank (AfDB)*2 on May 14 (Senegal time) during the Annual Meeting of AfDB held in Dakar, Senegal. The MOU aims to strengthen cooperation between the two banks in supporting economic development in Africa.
- In the MOU, JBIC and AfDB confirmed financial cooperation in mutually important areas for both Japan and African countries including: the development of energy and natural resources; renewable energy resource development; infrastructure projects to improve the investment environment for the private sector; and trade facilitation program.
- AfDB is a multilateral institution with a mandate to promote sustainable economic development and reduce poverty in the African region. It supports member countries by providing medium and long-term loans, equity participations and guarantees, as well as technical assistance. Up to the present time JBIC and AfDB have jointly assisted natural resource development projects through co-financing and thus have built up close cooperational ties. The signing of the MOU is expected to contribute to sustainable development in Africa by further boosting Japanese trade and investment to Africa and by improving infrastructure in the region.
- During the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV) held in May 2008, it was announced that JBIC would provide financial support totaling up to 2.5 billion dollars to the region over a 5-year period with the aim of doubling Japanese private investment in Africa. As part of this effort, the "JBIC Facility for African Investment" was established in April this year. In addition, following the announcement by the Japanese government of the "Leading Investment to Future Environment Initiative (LIFE Initiative)"*3 in March, 2009, JBIC will proactively make financial support to environmental investment projects and infrastructure development projects in developing countries, while mobilizing private funds. There are high expectations that this MOU will help promote JBIC's assistance to Africa through collaboration with AfDB, an international institution playing a vital role in African economic growth.
- *1 JBIC is the international wing of the Japan Finance Corporation (JFC; Governor: Shosaku Yasui).
- *2 Including The African Development Fund which is composed of AfDB and AfDB member countries.
- *3 See information on March 23, 2009, "Establishing Leading Investment to Future Environment(LIFE) Initiative".