President Mugabe arrives in Japan

By Lovemore Chikova

Conference on African Development (TICAD), opens in the Japanese city of Yokohama on Saturday, and is expected to be attended by several other African leaders.

It is an interface between Africa, on one hand, and Japan and other global development partners, on the other, to foster mutual economic and trade ties.

The TICAD conference series, started in 1993, represent Japan’s answer to growing forays on the African economic space by Tokyo’s rivals such as China, India and Russia.

It is the first time that President Mugabe is attending the conference, evidence that Western efforts to keep Zimbabwe isolated – over land reform differences – were now crumbling.

For over a decade, Western nations led by Britain and the United States have pushed for Zimbabwe’s isolation in an effort to force the government to back down on its agrarian reforms in which it compulsorily acquired excess farmland from white farmers to resettle landless blacks.

But the highlight of President Mugabe’s trip will be scheduled talks with Abe at the Japanese premier’s request.

He will be one of a few leaders attending the conference that Prime Minister Abe will hold bilateral talks with, something observers said indicated the importance Japan attached to Zimbabwe, and also that the country was on its way out of the cold Western nations sought to keep it.

Officials said the talks were likely to centre on economic relations between the two countries, particularly Japanese investment in Zimbabwe.

Last August, a number of Japanese business delegations visited the country to explore for investment opportunities, and are thought to have expressed keen interest in mining and manufacturing.

The two countries are also looking at ways to boast two-way trade, which stood at seven billion Yen in 2011.

Zimbabwe mainly exports nickel and ferrochrome to Japan, and imports vehicles and a variety of finished goods in return.

Preisident Mugabe is accompanied by First Lady Grace Mugabe and several senior government officials. – New Ziana