Africa on the International Scene

The Asia–Africa Growth Corridor (AAGC) — a Japan–India initiative to promote connectivity between Asia and East Africa and encourage joint projects in Africa — is often misrepresented. All too often, the AAGC is depicted as a political move aimed exclusively at countering China’s Belt and Road...

On June 5th 2017, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain broke off diplomatic relations with Qatar and agreed to isolate the Emirate via an air and land blockade.

The July 2016 failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government not only resulted in a dramatic upheaval in Turkey, it also had a significant impact on the structure of its international relations and its networks of influence abroad. 

Since 2015 and the refugee crisis, the dialogue between the European Union (EU) and African countries on migration issues has assumed a new intensity. 

In September 2015, Addis Ababa introduced the first Light Rail Transit system (LRT) in sub-Saharan Africa. This tram, a symbol of Ethiopian renewal, was nevertheless barely used by the capital’s residents during the first few months. However, at the time of our research trip in April 2017,...

If some African countries are on their way to achieving dynamic economic growth, many are also still struggling with a lack of economic and social infrastructure, latent governance issues and often complex and risky security environments. In this context, both Japan and European countries,...

By organising TICAD (Tokyo International Conference on African Development) for the first time in Africa in August 2016, Japan intended to accelerate and deepen its relationship with the continent. 

There is still a big gap between the discourse and the reality of what Japan wants - and what it can achieve in Africa.

This paper documents new features of Japan's diplomacy that tends to gradually integrate Africa into Japan's strategic interests.