Tokyo (AFP)

Japan is receiving dozens of African leaders this week to try to strengthen the presence of its companies on this continent rich in natural resources and growing, facing an increasingly conquering China.

For Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, this seventh edition of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) co-organized with the UN, the World Bank and the African Union since 1993, should allow Japan " to undertake a consequent action "on the continent.

But China, which has followed suit with its own conference, now exceeds it by the sums it pledges: $ 60 billion in new funding promised at the China-Africa summit last year, exactly double the commitments of the last Ticad, in 2016.

The country of the rising sun, however, should not make the race for the number from Wednesday to Friday in Yokohama, southwest of the Japanese capital.

He chooses to distinguish himself rather by showing a willingness to support his "quality" investments of a local "development of human resources" and to limit the burden in terms of indebtedness, in a barely veiled comparison with his big neighbor and Asian competitor.

China's ambitious "New Silk Roads" infrastructure project launched in 2013 to connect Asia, Europe and Africa to China has been accused of favoring Chinese companies and workers at the expense of local economies, to drive the host countries into debt and ignore human rights and the environment.

- "Silent Diplomacy" -

Infrastructures developed "with investments or loans from China (...) can sometimes lead to a very heavy debt for some countries," said a briefing Masahiko Kiya, a Japanese diplomat responsible for the Ticad.

For Kiya, the "superior quality" of Japanese infrastructure and the monitoring of local maintenance ensures "lower cost in the long term". "The only delivery of infrastructure or equipment is not the end of the project," he says.

The Ticad is a good opportunity for Japan to send a message on "its convenient and well-planned loans," said Sawaka Takazaki, deputy director of the Middle East and Africa Division of Japan's public foreign trade promotion agency (Jetro ).

Tokyo is expected to announce this week a loan of 400 billion yen (3.4 billion euros) to finance renewable energy, including the extension of wind equipment in Egypt and geothermal units in Kenya or Djibouti.

The Japanese state and the African Development Bank are also expected to jointly announce more than 300 billion yen worth of "transparent and quality" infrastructure, the Nikkei says.

In Africa, Japan is perceived as leading "a silent diplomacy and + not involved", analyzes Mohamed Diatta, a researcher at the Institute for Security Studies in Ethiopia.

- "Trolling behind" -

"Japan is a development partner, less intrusive than countries like China or Russia" even if it has "its economic interests to satisfy," Diatta told AFP. "He does not have a domineering presence".

"Japan has a long history of contributing to the socio-economic development of Rwanda, but it does not play in the same division with China, the United States, the United Kingdom or the European Union with respect to its influence in this country. "says Christopher Kayumba, a Rwandan political commentator.

The stock of Japanese direct investment in Africa, the cumulative value of all investments year after year, was $ 7.8 billion at the end of 2017 against $ 43 billion for China, according to Jetro.

As for Japanese exports to Africa, they have fallen more than 27% since 2008 while those of China have jumped nearly 50% over the last decade, according to the same source.

Among the leaders this week are Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

More than 150 Japanese companies will hold an exhibition on the sidelines of official meetings.

"I can not help but say that the Japanese business world is lagging behind in Africa," said Nobuhiko Sasaki, president of Jetro. "It will be a test for Japan and Japanese companies".

burx-if-uh / etb

© 2019 AFP