By Olivier RogezPosted on 27-08-2019Modified on 27-08-2019 at 19:33

Africa has an appointment with Japan from Wednesday, August 28 in Yokohama. Dozens of African countries will attend the opening of the seventh TICAD summit, the Tokyo International Conference on African Development.

The TICAD summit organized with the African Union, the UN and the World Bank is an opportunity for Japan to make a difference with China's big neighbor, which has become one of the biggest investors in Africa in a decade. Does it really offer a more balanced partnership to Africa? Not sure, according to Samba Ndongo Sylla, professor of economics at the Rosa Luxembourg Foundation in Dakar.

RFI : It has become customary to see the great powers, be they Eastern or Western, bring African countries together to discuss development and investment. Do these meetings serve Africa in your opinion ?

Samba Ndongo Sylla : The question deserves to be asked, because at the beginning we had summits France-Africa, then summits China-Africa, India-Africa, and now we have summits Japan-Africa . And we have the impression that each time, it is the same promises that do not lead to concrete and tangible things for the African populations.

In principle, it is commendable for African countries to be able to diversify their external partners, but this needs to lead to something coherent at the continental level. But we realize that each power comes with its agenda and conditions. Does this lead to breakthroughs that will benefit African countries? I am not very convinced by this type of formula.

Nevertheless, does the fact that foreign companies come to invest in Africa do not allow to develop employment and wealth ?

Yes, but at the same time one should not overestimate the weight of foreign investment. It is true that he can play a leading role in initiating a certain structural transformation. But if we look at the number of jobs created in Africa by foreign investment, over the last twenty years, at most, it is around 150,000 per year.

But every year 17 million Africans enter the labor market. This shows that real development requires the mobilization of internal resources in our countries. And so far, we do not have the impression that this type of partnership made by African countries with the outside part of this reality is to mobilize internal resources.

It is therefore necessary that the African countries claim more the opening of these foreign markets, European, Chinese or Japanese ...

Certainly. The great powers must cooperate in another way with Africa, because often what is asked of Africa is that it opens more to products, expertise and foreign investment. But Africa is not ready for this total opening to the outside world.

The history of economic development teaches us that development goes through a period when countries protect themselves in order to be able to develop sufficient capacity. If there is no such phase, then there is no long-term development and no decent job creation for the vast majority of the population. Unfortunately, we are often on the agendas of commercial and financial liberalization. And it is not by following this path that we will ensure development.

When you hear the Japanese leaders, and in some ways also the European leaders, they claim to have a different approach than the Chinese. An approach that would be more respectful of African countries and less generating negative effects such as indebtedness. Can we believe these leaders ?

No, it's not a credible speech and it's also a speech that makes me smile. Last year, Japan had invited some African leaders, and was publicly concerned about the debt of African countries [vis-à-vis China - Ed]. But they forgot to say that Japan is the most indebted country in the world! With a debt that represents nearly 250% of GDP.

Moreover, even if in its approach, Japan could have differences with the other powers, these differences remain minimal. Let's not forget that we are in logics of powers. Powers that are positioned on Africa, which is now an important market. And that's why everyone comes with his particular offer, explaining that others are worse, that they are not doing this or that.

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