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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he intends to help Japanese companies expand their business and investment in Africa at a public-private business dialogue session of the seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in Yokohama on Thursday.

Japanese and African officials and business leaders attended the session.

“The scale of the African market continues to grow.

“We can see the day is coming when the whole continent will become a mega-economic zone,” said Abe.

However, he added, “If investment destinations are mired in debt, companies will be unable to expand their business,” indicating the government will support the proper management of public debt.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who is co-chairing the TICAD conference with Abe, said that  “each government can set a model for encouraging public-private cooperation by focusing on strengthening cooperation with the private sector.”

Representatives of the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren), the Japan Association of Corporate Executives (Keizai Doyukai) and others also attended the session.

“We want the public and private sectors to work together,” one representative said.

The session introduced efforts by the Japan Business Council for Africa, a public-private partnership established in June to promote investment by Japanese companies in Africa.

Participants also discussed ways to develop businesses using advanced technology. — The Japan News.