President Jacob Zuma is among dozens of African leaders attending the Japanese development summit in Nairobi this weekend.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is using the two-day gathering to unveil aid and investment projects, including programmes to improve healthcare in Africa.

ends intro

Japan’s been eclipsed by China as the largest provider of development aid to Africa.

So the sixth edition of the Tokyo International Conference on Aid and Development, or TICAD, will seek to make quality trump quantity in the battle for  influence against cash-rich China.

The forum, first convened in the Japanese in 1993,  has been followed by similar ventures by the European Union, China, India, South Korea and Turkey

It  moved to Africa this year at the behest of the host continent and reflects a drive to bolster Japanese clout as the modern-day Scramble for Africa gathers momentum.

The post TICAD plans to make quality of Japanese development aid to Africa trump quantity of Chinese assistance appeared first on Jean-Jacques Cornish.