Japanese Companies Zooming in on African Market

Tokyo, Sept. 1 (Jiji Press)--Japanese companies are looking to grab opportunities in Africa, seen as the last frontier in the global economy, with a population estimated to balloon to 2.5 billion in 2050. They are relying on their technological edge to catch up with companies from China and elsewhere that have been investing vigorously on the continent. "It is necessary to tackle the energy sector for the growth of the African economy," Toshiba Corp. President Satoshi Tsunakawa said at a meeting held Wednesday on the sidelines of the Seventh Tokyo International Conference on African Development, or TICAD 7, a Japan-led international conference that brought together leaders from Africa to discuss the emerging continent's development. Demand for infrastructure is expected to increase, as much of Africa lacks electricity. Toshiba, which has worked on geothermal power generation facilities in Kenya, "is eager to cooperate with many countries and companies," Tsunakawa said. Major trading houses such as Mitsubishi Corp. and Marubeni Corp. are also working to introduce renewable energy in areas without power grids. NEC Corp. will bring its digital technology to Africa. On Wednesday, the company exchanged memorandums with the U.N. World Food Program to help build a system to prevent people from receiving more food rations than they should by identifying them using their fingerprints or other ways. "We will build a system for fair and effective food distribution," NEC Chairman Nobuhiro Endo said, hoping that this will help eradicate starvation. Trading house Toyota Tsusho Corp. <8015> has established a network to sell automobiles in all countries in Africa, by making a French trading company a subsidiary. Yamaha Motor Co. will launch a joint business with a Kenyan company as early as 2020, using unmanned helicopters for agriculture and disaster prevention. Fujifilm Corp. is selling small-scale medical equipment that can be used during blackouts. It plans to differentiate itself from Chinese companies by pursuing diagnostic efficiency with artificial intelligence. According to Foreign Ministry data, Japanese companies had some 800 footholds in Africa in 2017, which is twice as many as more than 10 years ago. But "Japan's presence has been lowered, compared with that of other countries," said Japan External Trade Organization Chairman Nobuhiko Sasaki, urging Japanese companies to accelerate moves into Africa. END