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Darlington Musarurwa in TUNISIA

ZIMBABWE needs to continue building an investment-friendly environment to make it easy for Japanese companies to invest in the country while also learning from the world’s third-largest economy about leveraging on technology and ingenuity to promote economic growth, Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to the African Union and Ethiopia, Taonga Mushayavanhu, has said.

Platforms such as the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), whose eighth edition will be held in Tunisia over the weekend, are considered crucial in helping support Japanese companies that are willing to invest on the continent.

“This is one of the important areas of TICAD, when they put money on the table. There is always a portion for Japanese companies investing in Africa, so there are prospects for Japanese investments coming into Africa, and then there are also prospects for trade between Africa and Japan; in particular, Zimbabwe,” said Ambassador Mushayavanhu, who is also Permanent Representative to the AU and UNECA (United Nations Commission for Africa).

“So I think what we need as a country is to ready ourselves to attract Japanese investments so that the Japanese companies can take advantage of the money that would be put on the table to invest in Zimbabwe.”

TICAD is seen as a premier diplomatic and economic forum for Japan’s engagement with Africa.

It is co-hosted by the government of Japan, AU Commission, World Bank, the United Nations and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Tunisia becomes the second country on the continent after Kenya in 2016 to host TICAD since its inception in 1993.

According to Ambassador Mushayavanhu, the forum also helps to push dialogue on policy options for Africa’s benefit, including taking advantage of Japan’s networks around the world. “First of all, it is to learn from Japan’s own development experiences: A country with little natural resources but they benefit from their own ingenuity.

“This is how they have developed technology, so if we can get investment from Japanese companies and the attendant technology transfer, that will benefit the economy.”

In Zimbabwe, Japan has weighed in with invaluable support particularly in infrastructure development and agriculture.

In May last year, President Mnangagwa commissioned the first phase of the upgraded Makuti-Chirundu Road covering 6,5km, which was financed through a US$21 million grant from Japan.

The scope of the project included widening the road, construction of climbing lanes to allow light vehicles to overtake slower-moving trucks and smoothening sharp curves.

A year earlier, the President had also commissioned the Nyakomba Irrigation Scheme in Manicaland that was supported by a Japanese grant.

“And also, if you look in our own case, Japan is coming to assist us with regional integration — the Chirundu One-Border-Post — and we are expecting continued co-operation with Japan.

“Already they have done some works on the Kazungula Bridge, which of course Zimbabwe joined later, but there are attendant benefits to Zimbabwe’s economy in terms of the regional integration projects,” added Ambassador Mushayavanhu.

“In agriculture, Japan has built a lot of small dams around the country, which Government believes can be used for irrigation projects by communities. I think it is something that we could work with Japan on, having already started with the revival of Nyakomba Irrigation Scheme.”

Ambassador Mushayavanhu said Japan is a small country with little resources but it produces enough to feed itself.

“So we can learn from what they have done right in terms of using modern technology in agriculture, manufacturing, climate change, and disaster risk reduction”.

Japanese companies have been progressively increasing their investments on the continent, growing from 520 in 2010 to 796 by 2019.

TICAD 8 is expected to focus on restoring economic growth and development, especially after the social and economic upheaval caused by Covid-19.

It is believed that emphasis will be on boosting human security, developing Africa’s response to the pandemic, building inclusive and resilient health systems, and responding to the socio-economic impact of Covid-19 through debt support, among other interventions.

But the shadow of the pandemic looms large over this year’s engagements as Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will not be attending after testing positive for Covid-19 on Sunday.

New Covid-19 infections in Japan are presently topping 250 000 cases a day since the beginning of August.