• Co-Organizers
  • Government of Japan
  • United Nations (OSAA)
  • UNDP
  • World Bank
• The Yokohama Declaration
  • 1.0 Introduction
  • 2.0 Recent Trends and Challenges
  • 3.0 Boosting Economic Growth
  • 4.0 Achieving the MDGs
  • 5.0 Consolidation of Peace and Good Governance
  • 6.0 Addressing Environmental Issues and Climate Change
  • 7.0 A Broadened Partnership
  • 8.0 The Way Forward
• The Yokohama Action Plan
• Follow-up Mechanism
• Chair's Summary
• Japan's Initiatives
• The road to Yokohama 2008

1.0 Introduction

1.1 The Heads of State and Government, and delegations of Japan and 51 African countries, together with the representatives of 34 other countries, 75 international and regional organizations, and representatives of the private sector, academic institutions and civil society organizations from both Africa and Asia, met in Yokohama, Japan from 28 to 30 May, 2008, for the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development - TICAD IV.

1.2 The Conference took place against the backdrop of a rapidly-changing Africa determined to take responsibility for and to assert ownership over its own destiny: and an Africa increasingly confident and capable, itself, of determining that destiny.

1.3 The Participants at TICAD IV acknowledged that from its inception in 1993, the TICAD Process with Japan at its center and other co-organizers including the United Nations, the United Nations Development Programme and the World Bank playing a valuable role stressed the importance for Africa to exercise full "ownership" of its own development agenda and the need for a genuine "partnership" with the international community in pursuit of that agenda. In this regard, the TICAD Process has also served as a bridge between Africa and Japan and Asia as a whole, and as a Forum through which the Asian development experience can be shared with Africa. It is clear that the pursuit of an even closer relationship, based on shared concerns and common strategic interests, is of critical importance in terms of further enhancing global development and stability.

1.4 The Participants at TICAD IV also recognized the need for Africa's diversified development partners, working together with the governments of Africa and with the African Union (AU) and its institutions and programmes - in particular the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) - to actively strive for far greater synergy and effective coordination between and among existing and future initiatives in support of the continent's development.