Nigeria is using the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) to fortify its ties with Japan and mobilise support for Africa’s participation in international decision-making organisations, according to Foreign Affairs Minister Yusuf Tuggar.
Speaking on the margins of the ninth TICAD summit on Wednesday, Tuggar stated that the gathering brings together the African Union (AU), the United Nations (UN), and the World Bank, allowing for substantive debate.
“Japan, as we are aware, is the third largest economy in the world, and they have two organs of engaging with Africa. There is Japan International Cooperation Agency, which is the Japan agency that deals with overseas development assistance,” the minister said.
“There is the Japan External Trade Organisation, which is the Japanese organ that deals with trade abroad. And in the case of Nigeria, we have had engagements in the power sector.
“There’s a transmission project going on in Nigeria being supported by this organ.”
He added that Nigeria also trades agricultural commodities including shea butter, cassava, and the grain acha, which is in high demand in Japan.
The minister also stated that hydrocarbons continue to be a major export to Japan, with current trade volumes estimated at over $1 billion, and that “we’re looking to expand that”.
Tuggar emphasised that, in addition to commerce, TICAD functions as a platform for furthering Africa’s political and institutional objectives.
Nigeria is pressing for seats in global organisations such as the UN Security Council, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, and the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), with at least 17 heads of state likely to attend the summit.
The minister added that Nigeria plays a pivotal role in ongoing efforts to reform the global financial architecture
“Unless we have that reform in the global financial architecture, we cannot benefit and Africa as a whole cannot benefit, so it does not benefit us if others are not also making progress,” he said.
“Some of the things that are being tabled here — because like I said, the United Nations is here, the World Bank is here — has to do with the issues of debt, debt rescheduling, and debt restructuring, and in the case of Nigeria, because it is a leading economy on the continent, we seek to do what Japan did here.”
He highlighted comparisons with Japan’s postwar economic boom, pointing out how Japanese firms extended across Asia in the 1960s and 1970s, a phenomenon known as the “flying geese effect”.
“We’re already doing that. If you look at the continent, you’ll see that Nigeria has its banks in other countries. It is Zenith, it is GTBank, it is UBA, it is Access Bank,” he said.
“If you look at businesses — Dangote, BUA, Sahara, and many others like TGI. If we continue as a government to support that, which is what Japan did deliberately… which is what the president is committed to, that way we can create those jobs for our teeming youth, tackle the issue of unemployment, and of course those macroeconomic reforms of President Tinubu are already in progress and we’re beginning to feel the positive effects.”
Tuggar emphasised the necessity of Nigeria’s presence on global decision-making tables, “which is why we need that position in the United Nations Security Council”.
