TOKYO

The recent Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) – which brought together business leaders, investors, and government officials from across Africa and Japan – reaffirmed Japan’s ambition to strengthen its relationship with the continent.

It was noticeable that the conference, held in Yokohama last month, was much more focused on trade than aid. At the previous TICAD in Tunis in 2022, Japan pledged $30 billion in additional aid to Africa. This year, however, no such headline emerged. Instead, Japanese officials and business leaders emphasized new investments, development partnerships, and expanding trade flows.

Horiuchi Toshihiko, director general for African affairs at Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, captured the shift neatly: “Japan aims to move beyond traditional aid models by focusing on solution-oriented and business-driven partnerships.”

This is a move in the right direction. Trade creates long-term, self-sustaining growth by generating jobs, industries, and more competitive markets. Aid, by contrast, risks addressing only short-term needs and encouraging dependency. The task for Japan now is to work out how best to build these new trading relationships with Africa.

One answer lies close to home: Japan’s success with Southeast Asia. Today, the region is Japan’s third-largest trading partner after China and the United States. While Southeast Asia is geographically and culturally closer to Japan, it shares important similarities with Africa. Both are dynamic, fast-growing emerging markets buoyed by young populations, rapid urbanization, and expanding middle classes hungry for quality imports.

At the heart of Japan’s success in Southeast Asia was a recognition that trade in emerging markets requires more than simply exporting goods. Particularly after the 1977 Fukuda Doctrine, Tokyo emphasized building “heart-to-heart” partnerships alongside economic ties. These were often grounded in people-to-people exchange in areas not directly related to business, such as culture and sport, but they proved vital in building trust – the foundation of productive economic relationships.

Diplomatically, this approach manifested in Japan’s deep engagement with ASEAN, embedding the idea that trade could be a win-win rather than a zero-sum contest. For Africa, TICAD offers a platform for a similar approach – but expressions of goodwill now need to translate into practical outcomes such as free trade agreements with African countries or continent-wide deals with organizations like the African Union.

Japan’s non-transactional approach to trade also meant addressing barriers to growth in partner countries. In Southeast Asia, Tokyo recognized that limited infrastructure constrained industrialization and thus trade potential. Japan responded by investing in roads, ports, and logistics hubs – initiatives that not only supported regional development but also created larger markets for Japanese companies.

The same logic applies in Africa. Japanese goods can only reach the continent’s rising consumer base if the infrastructure is in place. Supporting African governments with transport and logistics projects, as well as digital infrastructure initiatives, would serve both Africa’s development and Japan’s commercial interests.

Equally important are the “heart-to-heart” relationships that proved so powerful in Southeast Asia. At a time when many global powers approach Africa with an extractive mindset, Japan has an opportunity to differentiate itself by being seen as a genuine partner in local prosperity. That means not only investing capital but also hiring and training local talent, facilitating technology transfer, and helping African firms build capacity in strategic industries such as manufacturing and digital services.

Of course, Africa is not Southeast Asia. Each African country has its own history, regulatory framework, and cultural expectations, all of which demand careful consideration. But the broad principles that have guided Japan’s successful engagement with Southeast Asia provide a strong template for a fruitful relationship with Africa too.

Bernard Laurendeau is founder of Enkopa Lab Japan, a Tokyo-based investment advisory firm focused on connecting Japan and Africa.

Read the article on Japan Today - https://japantoday.com/category/features/opinions/japan%E2%80%99s-africa-playbook-lessons-from-southeast-asia