Int`l conference on African development to be held in May+

TOKYO, Feb. 24 Kyodo -
Japan has decided to hold a ministerial-level meeting of the Tokyo
International Conference on African Development in May in Arusha, Tanzania,
Japanese government sources said Wednesday.
In the two-day conference from May 2, which will be co-hosted by Japan, the
United Nations and other international organizations, Japan plans to reiterate
its intention to double its official development assistance for the continent
to an annual $1.8 billion, a pledge it made during a 2008 conference.
The move is apparently aimed at sweeping away concerns among African nations
over possible cuts in Japanese financial assistance among the country's
worsening fiscal health and also gaining their support for Japan in the United
Nations and for its efforts to secure natural resources.
Japan's ODA to Africa had stayed around $900 million a year on average between
2003 and 2007, but then Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda promised in May 2008 that
the country would double it by 2012. Already in 2008, some $1.75 billion worth
of ODA was provided and the amount for 2009 is estimated to have been more than
$1 billion.
The expansion of Japanese assistance comes at a time when China is increasing
its presence in Africa.
Japan and Tanzania will co-chair the conference, where officials will review
assistance from the World Bank and other international organizations and also
talk about global warming.
The participants in the conference will also discuss a plan under which Japan
will listen to requests from African nations and convey them to a summit of the
Group of Eight nations to be held in Canada in June and other international
forums.
Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada has shown strong interest in attending
the conference and asked Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga during Friday's
meeting in Tokyo to have high-ranking officials attend the event.
==Kyodo