JAPAN TAKES PROMINENT ROLE IN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE

This year Japan will host two events that will be critical in helping to shape the African agenda: the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), to be held 28-30 May, followed in July by the G8 summit in which the continent\'s issues will figure prominently, writes Sadako Ogata, President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and former United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (1991-2001). African countries are not content just to grow cocoa or coffee; they want to move on and expand their sciences, information technology expertise, and industries. In today\'s world a country cannot improve its living standard by relying on farming alone but must also produce goods that create new sources of revenue. The May conference will be an opportunity to both review progress and address future challenges. Economically, Africa has enjoyed a robust 5 percent annual growth in recent years, and one of the major targets in 2008 will be to accelerate this expansion, in part by supporting large-scale infrastructure projects like enlarging national, regional, and intercontinental road networks, which will boost agricultural and industrial expansion.