Africa to develop regional, international trade expansion strategies: Mudavadi

Kenya has lauded Japan's support of Africa's infrastructural development and partnership in bolstering socio-economic activities.

Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi has said Japan has maintained close collaboration with Africa geared towards enhancing growth and prosperity in areas like health, education, trade, investment and climate change.

“Collectively we need to identify areas of quick wins that do not require huge resources but have huge impact value,” said Mudavadi.

Mudavadi, also the Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, noted that trade and investment play a critical role in propelling the continents’ economic growth and help in poverty alleviation calling on African nations to develop and implement strategies that will expand regional and international trade chains.

Mudavadi who spoke in Tokyo during the Tokyo Investment Conference for Africa Development (TICAD-9) ministerial meeting, said the goal should target to expand production, create employment opportunities and generate income.

“Investments in requisite skills and capacity as well as a favorable legal and regulatory framework can facilitate effective private sector engagement and utilization of technology thus be a gateway to future economic stability,” he said.

Mudavadi acknowledged the effectiveness of the Africa-Japan cooperation, challenging African nations to work towards more trade and investment collaboration with Japan.

This he said is part of the evolving global order stating that Africa and Japan have a great opportunity to discuss opportunities that will enable them to scale up their mutual trade and investment.

“Trade between Africa and Japan is fairly balanced. In 2023, the value of exports from Africa to Japan was estimated at $8.28 billion while imports by Africa from Japan were estimated at $10.27 billion, leaving a deficit of USD 1.98 billion against Africa,” he noted.

The Prime CS cited Kenya as one of the largest recipients of Japan’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) saying private sector investments in Kenya by Japanese companies have gradually increased over time.

There are about 120 Japanese companies operating in Kenya.

“Kenya has also positioned itself as a preferred destination in Africa for global Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). In 2022, FDI to Kenya was estimated at USD 759 million, accounting for 20 percent of the FDI flows of USD 3.8 billion to the East African Community. This underlines Kenya’s competitiveness as EAC’s financial and investment hub,” he said

“Collaboration between Japanese companies and Kenyan start-ups can be a powerful catalyst for mutual growth and prosperity. It can strengthen ties between the two nations through joint ventures, technology transfer and shared business initiatives that can be scaled up to the Eastern Africa region and across the African continent.”

Mudavadi said there is a need to relook at one of the aims of TICAD, which is how to integrate African priorities into the international cooperation agendas of partners and donors.

African concerns and challenges he said should be part of the global agenda now and moving into the future.

“We need to focus more on creating employment for our burgeoning youthful population, agricultural development, trade, digital transformation and other areas that will enhance growth with equity. This aligns with the United Nations call for leaving no one behind as we all aspire for African solutions to Africa’s problems,” he said.

“I propose that we consider funding and technology integration into agriculture, to make the sector adaptive to climate change. There is also an urgent need to focus on youth and women's challenges from a South-South perspective,” he added.

Re-looking at the global financial architecture, he said is an aspect that calls for closer collaboration between the African continent and Japan under the TICAD framework.

Developing countries in Africa account for 18 per cent of the global population yet the Continent’s contribution to global trade is less than three percent.

Mudavadi noted that it is crucial to create an enabling start-up ecosystem not only in Kenya but in the African continent, with the goal of creating a robust network of entrepreneurs working together to attract more FDI, foster innovation and address societal challenges.

He rallied the continent to strive towards a cohesive African start-up ecosystem that is characterized by seamless collaboration across borders, enabling start-ups to scale their ideas from local to regional and even global markets.

“Let us appreciate that developing countries are embracing the private sector to promote sustainable development. Innovation and technology, including artificial intelligence and robotics, can enable countries to harness the power of digital economy to advance an efficient, inclusive and sustainable future,” he said.

Mudavadi said Africa and Japan should continue to work together in strengthening the functions of the United Nations as a whole, including reform of the Security Council as part of the matters related to addressing the arising issues in global governance.

He said Japan and the AU can play a greater role in harmonizing various initiatives on reforms of the multilateral system including bringing together AU’s Ezulwini consensus on international relations and reform of the UN and the G4 (Brazil, Germany, India and Japan) approach on UN reforms.