• 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

2.0 Recent Trends and Challenges

2.1 The Participants at TICAD IV acknowledged the positive trends which have emerged across the African continent in general since TICAD III in 2003. Increasing political stability and improved governance, buttressed by strong economic growth and rising levels of foreign direct investment - much of it coming from Asia - have helped to create a new awareness of trade, investment and tourism opportunities available across the continent. These opportunities present a hitherto unprecedented prospect for the countries of Africa to achieve real and sustainable economic growth, and to make, thereby, real and sustainable progress towards poverty alleviation, and genuine improvements in the quality of life and self-reliance across the continent.

2.2 In this regard, the Participants at TICAD IV commended the birth in 2001 of NEPAD, the transformation of the Organization of African Unity into AU in 2002 and the increasing effectiveness of Africa's Regional Economic Communities (REC's) as further confirmation of Africa's determination, and enhanced capacity to exercise full ownership of its own development agenda. The Participants also welcomed the strengthening of cooperation between AU and TICAD, which is exemplified by the resolution adopted at the Tenth Ordinary Session of the African Union Assembly held in Addis Ababa from 31 January to 2 February 2008.

2.3 The Participants also took note of the outcome of this above-mentioned AU Assembly, which called, inter alia, for an immediate acceleration in the industrialization of Africa, a definitive shift away from dependence on primary products, and the development of Africa-based industries for local value-addition and processing.

2.4 The Participants at TICAD IV noted the strenuous efforts being made by the African countries themselves towards improved governance across the continent, including the ongoing work of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).

2.5 The Participants at TICAD IV recognized that, notwithstanding these very encouraging trends, the countries of Africa continue to face a number of serious challenges and that achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will be a difficult task. The most immediate of these challenges includes continuing widespread poverty and unemployment in rural and urban areas coupled with rapid population growth. Other significant challenges are low agricultural productivity, together with generally poor agricultural infrastructure ,and the increasingly severe effects of climate change ; low levels of industrialization and inadequate generation of and access to energy across the continent; the scourge of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other infectious diseases which continues its ravages across much of the continent; inadequate access to education at all levels and a corresponding lack of adequate education-infrastructure - specially in sub-Saharan Africa. The Participants emphasized the special needs of least developed countries, land-locked and small island developing states. They also paid special attention to the issue of soaring rise of food prices and its negative impact on poverty reduction in Africa.

2.6 The Participants acknowledged that while African governments bear primary responsibility for the economic and social well-being of their respective peoples, the international community and , Africa's development partners in particular, have a crucial role to play in supporting Africa's own efforts to address and overcome these challenges.

2.7 In this regard, the Participants stressed the importance for the G8 countries to honor the commitments already made in respect of support for African development and for all Africa's development partners, including emerging partners to work towards a greater coordination and strengthening of the broad international partnership with the African continent - specifically to facilitate a greater focus of effort and to avoid duplication and any unnecessary wastage of scarce resources.

2.8 Building on the positive trends in Africa and guided by the vision outlined in NEPAD, but also fully cognizant of the considerable developmental challenges which continue to confront the countries of Africa, the Participants at TICAD IV committed themselves to work together on the following specific but inter-related priority-areas:

• Towards Boosting Economic Growth
• Towards Ensuring Human Security, including achieving MDGs and consolidation of peace and good governance
• Towards Addressing Environmental Issues and Climate Change