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Harare — Ministers from the African Union (AU) member states including Zimbabwe and the Japanese government are expected to meet in Banjul, Gambia this Friday as preparations for the sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (Ticad) to be held in Kenya in August this year intensify.
Established in 1993, Ticad, which has the twin objectives of promoting high-level political dialogue between Africa and Japan as well as mobilising support in favour of African development initiatives, has for the five times it has been held, been hosted in Japan. Kenya plays host to Ticad VI this August.
“The preparatory ministerial meeting for the Ticad VI Summit aims to engage the African and Japanese ministers to review the work done in preparation for the upcoming Ticad VI Summit, to be held in Nairobi, Kenya from 27 to 28 August 2016, and more importantly consider the draft Nairobi Declaration,” the AU said in a statement.
A meeting of senior officials was held in Djibouti in March this year to consider critical issues to be discussed at the conference, paving way for this week’s Ministerial meeting in Banjul.
The AU said promoting structural economic transformation through economic diversification and industrialisation, promoting resilient health systems for quality of life; and promoting social stability for shared prosperity were among the key issues identified for discussion.
In addition to government officials, international organisations, representatives of partner countries, international, regional and sub-regional organisations, African and Japanese civil society would also take part at the Banjul Ministers meeting. — BH24
Online Reporter