Ramaphosa in Japan to Participate at the 9th Tokyo International Conference on African Development Summit

President Cyril Ramaphosa landed in Japan yesterday to lead South Africa’s High Level Delegation participation to the 9th Tokyo International Conference on African Development Summit (TICAD9).

TICAD9 Summit will convene in Yokohama from 20 – 22 August 2025 under the theme “Co-creating Innovative Solutions With Africa”. The Summit is underpinned by (3) Plenary Sessions, which illustrate established areas of cooperation between the African Union and Japan, namely:

i) Society: Realising a Sustainable Future;
ii) Economy: Promoting Trade and Investment;
iii) Peace and stability: Ensuring Human Dignity and Human Security.

The 9th TICAD Summit takes place at a time of unprecedented threats to global peace and security, ongoing conflicts in some regions of the world, distortions and disruption to global trade and a concerning revision by some states to unilateral action at a time when multilateralism and collective solutions to common challenges is crucial.

Rising fuel, food and energy prices have severely impacted developing countries, entrenching poverty and fuelling higher levels of inequality in the face of constrained employment and job opportunities. The debt and liquidity crisis on the African continent is worsening the challenging socio-economic environment and constraining the fiscal space for governments to cast a safety net over its citizens. The AU discussions with the government of Japan under the auspices of TICAD presents an opportunity for the two sides to engage in discussions that seek to foster collective solutions to these challenges.

South Africa, as a Member State of the AU, will prioritise support from the government of Japan for the Second Ten-Year Implementation Plan (STYIP) of Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want, especially in the priority areas of infrastructure development, peace and security, and health.

President Ramaphosa will advance South Africa’s Presidency of the G20 and pursue bilateral economic engagements with the government of Japan with a view to strengthening trade and investment ties between South Africa and Japan.

The 2025 year marks 115 years of relations between South Africa and Japan. The two countries enjoy well-established bilateral relations within the framework of the Partnership Forum held at a Ministerial level, and maintain strong cooperation in the fields of trade and investment; science and technology; education; skills transfer and capacity building through development cooperation. Bilateral trade between Japan and South Africa had been expanding since the establishment of full diplomatic relations in 1992.

Japan is one of the major investors (over R90 billion) in the South African economy, with 260 Japanese companies, sustaining over 150,000 local jobs. Japan is the 4th largest economy in the world, and total bilateral trade between the two countries in 2024 was R132 billion, with South Africa recording a trade surplus of R52 billion.

President Ramaphosa will engage with leading captains of Japanese industry and business. Japan is one of South Africa’s major economic partners with sizeable investments in the South African economy, and the potential for further investments exists. A South African high level business delegation is also participating at the TICAD9.

Also at the margins of TICAD9, In his capacity as the chair of the Global Leader’s Network for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health, President Ramaphosa will deliver a keynote address to parliamentarians, business and developmental agencies on the importance of increasing investments into women’s, children’s and adolescents health as an imperative for peace and security.

President Ramaphosa is accompanied by Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Lamola; Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology, Dr Bonginkosi Nzimande; Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Parks Tau; Minister of Electricity and Energy, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa; Deputy Minister of Health, Dr Joe Phaahla; and senior Government officials.

Per Kind Favour of APO

Africa Fact: The Nigerian city of Surame flourished in the sixteenth century. Even in ruin it was an impressive sight, built on a horizontal vertical grid. A modern scholar describes it thus: “The walls of Surame are about 10 miles in circumference and include many large bastions or walled suburbs running out at right angles to the main wall. The large compound at Kanta is still visible in the centre, with ruins of many buildings, one of which is said to have been two-storied. The striking feature of the walls and whole ruins is the extensive use of stone and tsokuwa (laterite gravel) or very hard red building mud, evidently brought from a distance. There is a big mound of this near the north gate about 8 feet in height. The walls show regular courses of masonry to a height of 20 feet and more in several places. The best preserved portion is that known as sirati (the bridge) a little north of the eastern gate . . . The main city walls here appear to have provided a very strongly guarded entrance about 30 feet wide.”