JAPAN: Mbeki’s Visit Rekindles Interest in South Africa

By Suvendrini Kakuchi Reprint | | Print |

Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO, Apr 10 1998 (IPS) - Outsiders can carp about Japan’s failure to show leadership in Asia’s crisis, but this week’s visit by South African Deputy President Thabo Mbeki gave Tokyo a chance to focus on an area where it remains a world leader — giving assistance to poorer nations.

Indeed, by the end of Mbeki’s visit to Japan Friday, analysts here were lauding a new chapter in ties between Japan and South Africa, to mark a year during which Tokyo has pledged to pay more attention to Africa.

Japan was the first stop of Mbeki’s 12-day swing through Asia, a journey that will also bring him to China, Hong Kong and South Korea to promote political and economic ties.

“Mr Mbeki plays a leadership role in Japan’s foreign policy toward Africa. His visit highlights Japan’s desire for developing friendly ties not only with South Africa but with the whole of Africa,” said Michio Numata of the African division in the foreign ministry.

On Thursday, Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto met Mbeki and pledged a 6 billion dollar loan to promote growth and development focusing on basic infrastructure, including water projects throughout South Africa.

Their discussions also covered broader cooperation, and other concessional lending for the environment and other projects in South Africa as well as in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC)., which groups 12 southern African countries.

Mbeki also asked Hashimoto to help address Africa’s debt burden and the Japanese premier promised to discuss the issue with other industrialised nations. Japan and South Africa also agreed to form a joint committee to promote trade, technology transfer and cultural ties.

Japanese foreign ministry officials earlier said Tokyo, the world’s top donor, wanted to give more attention to Africa in its overseas assistance priorities this year. Tokyo says it will do so even if its aid budget for fiscal 1998 was cut by 10.9 percent from last year’s level. This year’s total overseas assistance budget is 8.25 billion dollars.

In October, Japan will host the second Tokyo International Conference on African Development. Apart from serving as a venue to discuss Japanese aid to Africa and the continent’s economic potential, the conference would also foster a better understanding of African culture, diplomats say.

For his part, Mbeki says his trip to Japan and Asia is an important step to gaining confidence in the ‘African Renaissance’, the emergence of a confident Africa determined to end its political and economic isolation in global affairs.

Mbeki says his Asian swing also shows South Africa’s desire to develop and deepen ties with Japan, China and South Korea, since his country already has excellent relations with Europe, the United States and most governments of South-east Asia.

Japan is the biggest investor in South Africa with 400 million dollars, much of it in the motor industry. In terms of bilateral trade, however, Japan has slipped to third place in the last few years behind Britain and the United States. The volume of bilateral trade stood at 4.2 billion dollars in 1996.

After he arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday, Mbeki was swept into a whirlwind of events that included an audience with the Japanese emperor, a meeting with Japanese businessmen at Keidanren, Japan’s largest business organisation, and a lecture on the ‘African Renaissance’ at the Tokyo-based United Nations University.

“We are determind to realize political, economic and cultural reform. (To do this) we need to reform black people’s way of thinking. We need to overcome our problems, which will lead us to establish self-confidence,” Mbeki said.

In a television interview with NHK, Japan’s public television network, Mbeki stressed Japan’s role in helping post-apartheid South Africa deal with its problems, including rising unemployment that has reached 40 percent among blacks and an influx of economic refugees from neighbouring countries.

Likewise, Japanese analysts say Tokyo does not wish to be left behind as other countries, like the United States, improved ties with South Africa.

“The world is fast changing and Clinton’s visit to Africa signifies the new global stances being taken toward Africa. Tokyo is aware of the need to develop its own special ties with the region so as not to be left out and Mbeki plays a vital role in this policy,” explained Katsumi Hirano, an expert at the Institute of Developing Economies.

The standing of Mbeki, a London-trained economist whom South African president Nelson Mandela would like to succeed him, gives a major boost to Japan’s interest in Africa. “Japan is keen to develop a deeper understanding with Mr Mbeki, on whom we lay much hope on,” said Numata.

While Japan has pledged channel more of its aid funds, more than 60 percent of which has traditionally gone to Asian countries, Japanese experts it will not be as easy to immediately get Japanese companies to step up the pace and investment and trade ties with South Africa.

Hirano explains the slow response is due to the recession companies face at home, as well as the widespread opinion that Japan’s priority should be to help Asian economies get back to their feet first before new investments are made in South Africa.

Because Japanese companies’ business commitments in Asian countries are enormous and have a longer history than in Africa, the priority right now is for a quick recovery in Asia, says Hirano.

Experts add that worries about crime in South Africa and the relatively high cost of labour there compared to Asian developing countries also work against a sudden increase in investments.

In the long run, though, analysts say Japanese companies do want to expand their presence in South Africa because they see it as an entry point for doing business in the African continent.